And two weeks after USC we play Clemson. I'd say a schedule that has 3 preseason atop 10's in 4 weeks shouldn't be up for ridicule.
I agree. Up until the last.couple of years I think strength of schedule may have played a bigger role in the committee selections. With NIL and the transfer portal that is the.least of my problems with college football
Gip, I'm not sure Clemson is preseason top 10, but I was just responding to the ridicule of Georgia's schedule by pointing out that if you just look at part of the schedule you could be mislead. Also, what doesn't show in the published schedule is that Georgia, if they win the SEC, has a conference championship game to contend with.
The nonconf. schedule is the only part that Ga. has control over. All the other games are dictated by their conference affiliation. Say what you will about Navy but it is a 3700 mile away game.
Well I don't think the strength of schedule really makes much difference, virtually all of the top teams play at most 1 legitimate opponent in non-conference play, after that the schedule is what it is and is controlled by the conferences. Georgia is legit, they had a great roster, great leadership, and as hard as it is for me to admit, great coaching. I can tell you from reading multiple ND boards over the years, the vast majority of ND fans would love to see the Navy game go away, but it won't because those in power feel it is owed to the Navy for what they did to help the University survive economically during WW2. The same goes for playing MAC Schools and other non-power 5 schools. They hate that Tenn State is on the schedule, along with C. Michigan. It's not that they think we should be playing only top schools, every opponent being in the top 10-15...that would be nuts. But no C.Michigans, or MAC schools, definitely no HBCU's. I can't think of a single Nat'l Champion that I didn't feel like they earned it, even if they played a couple of non-conference patsies along the way. When it counted they played top opponents and beat them all. Take Clemson's 2 Nat'l Titles, they were great teams, rosters were loaded with great players...when it counted they played great and beat the best that the SEC had to offer that year. That their conference schedule wasn't as strong didn't make any difference. When it counted they won the CFP against the 4 best teams.
I'm sure that I mentioned this before but the AD Swarbrick has a hell of a puzzle to figure out when it comes to scheduling. First off we have our ACC commitment that means we play 6 ACC schools every year this year we play 4 of those games on the road. Then we have our yearly opponents, SC, Stanford, and Navy. . That accounts for 9 games a year. We're usually playing a home and home with a top school like Mich. or OSU so some years that takes our last away game (because we try to schedule 7 home game.) We therefore will need to find opponents who will not require a return home game for them. This year it's Tenn. St. and Central Michigan. In years when we have only 2 ACC road games we have a little more flexibility I think.
Terry, I agree. I think Cincinnati may have been an exception, and it was the reason UCF didn't make the playoffs even though they were undefeated a few years ago. Sometimes though, you may try to schedule a quality non-con and the non-con ends up not being much of a quality opponent by the time the game rolls around. That's happened to Alabama a couple of times.
Mike, Swarbrick has 5 teams on the schedule that he can't do anything about, but the other Power 5 teams have 8 teams that they can't do anything about. If you add SC, Stanford and Navy that brings it to 8 teams that he always starts with on his schedule which as previously noted is the same as every other AD in America. They all have to figure out the other 4, so I'm not seeing why Swarbricks job is more difficult than the other AD's in college football.
Respectfully, Terry, you know that I've been harping in this for a long time. A more accurate way to express the above statement would be, ....the vast majority of ND fans ON THE BOARDS I READ...... That majority is substantially less than "vast" as it relates to all ND fans. Possibly 10-15%. If someone has statistics to prove me wrong, I'll be glad to recant.
Sid I respect your opinion on this and you certainly know far more ND Alums than I do, I know 3 or 4. But I just don't see much enthusiasm for the Navy game out there, and I don't have any data to support that either. I do think the Navy game is more acceptable to ND fans than the recent inclusion of MAC teams and now HBCU or FCS teams on the schedule.
I don't know how many other ND fans I'm with or who are with me but.....I would have no problem if Navy wasn't on our schedule anymore. It's a no win for the Irish every time we play them. Beat them badly and we are bullies, lose to them or have a close win it says we aren't very good at all to the rest of the CFB world. It's a lose/lose and the triple option Navy style is a dreadful way to play football. Just my opinion.
Where do you get 9? 5 ACC teams Navy USC Stanford Now for some reason we had 4 ACC teams this year and 6 next year...averages to 5 And the 1 power team home/home is at our discretion, just the same as it is for other AD's who non-conf teams to schedule. This year the Texas and Alabama AD's had an agreement, the Ohio State and ND had an agreement, but it's purely voluntary. Michigan opted not to schedule a Power home/home this year but Big 10 AD's only have 3 non-conf games to work with. Now Swarbrick does have to work with the ACC on the dates of their games and he does have to get out there and convince a Power team to do a home/home with the Irish. I have read that the Purdue game went away because it hurt them financially in the years they came to ND and the move to the 9 game schedule in the Big 10 complicated things. But bottom line is all these AD's have to work with what their conference dictates to them for the conference schedule and figure out how to fit in the non-conference teams. I'm sure it's not an easy job, but I have a hard time with him having a more difficult job than the other AD's at top programs. BTW nice picture of you and Mary enjoying a cocktail in Cozumel!! Life is good!
I originally wrote 5. I found an article saying we were supposed to play 6 and checked our schedule and it has 6. What I didn't discuss was the Shamrock series game that gums up the mix. Any way thanks for the correction.
Well it won't be your fathers Wisconsin going forward! Wisconsin’s New QB Room Once upon a time, it’d take years to turn over a quarterback room. Bad takes at the position could sink a program for years. That’s no longer the case, as evidenced by what Wisconsin's done in about a month under Luke Fickell. When the Badgers hired Phil Longo as offensive coordinator away from North Carolina, it signaled a shift in offensive philosophy. No longer would they be a plodding, pro-style offensive attack. The Air Raid is headed to Madison, and that required a different type of passer. So, what did Wisconsin do? It signed THREE transfer quarterbacks. Out went Graham Mertz (Florida) and Deacon Hill (Iowa) and in came Tanner Mordecai (SMU), Nick Evers (Oklahoma) and Braedyn Locke (Mississippi State). All three of the additions came from Air Raid or veer-and-shoot systems, replacing players who were better suited to the previous scheme. They’re also talent upgrades. Mordecai is among the most productive passers in the FBS, throwing for a combined 7,152 yards and 72 touchdowns the last two seasons. Evers and Locke, meanwhile, were four-star QBs in the 2022 class. They’re young and future cornerstones of the program. Throw in 2024 QB commit Mabrey Mettauer, and the Badgers have landed a quartet of four-star recruits in a little over a month. Wisconsin had only signed four such QBs in its entire history.
I'll say it again, this Portal stuff is going to totally destroy any semblance to NCAA football as we knew it. Maybe it already has. Sad
Buckeyes are not sleeping on the NIL landscape. Ohio State-focused NIL collective “The Foundation” is doing its part to provide NIL opportunities to student-athletes. The collective held a special signing event for five Ohio State early enrollees on Tuesday night. Carnell Tate, Jermaine Mathews, Jelani Thurman, Noah Rogers, and Malik Hartford are the players who received contracts. A photoshoot was held at the indoor basketball court inside the home of Brian Schottenstein, the Co-Founder of the collective. Ohio State-focused collective signs early enrollees | The NIL Deal
You're going to have the same five to seven teams competing at the highest levels going forward. I think they will be Georgia, Ohio State, Alabama, USC, Texas A&M, Wisconsin and some wild card big spender. The rest will play for the leftovers. I do not see Notre Dame competing in this new version of college football for a NC.