Seems to me that if the top teams don't want to play ND, then ND should have a pretty easy path to the playoffs every year. And If they start crying "they play nobody" the response is "the somebody's are too afraid to play us."
Or they’re already playing 4, or 5 ranked teams in their conference and under the current climate adding any other ranked teams doesn’t make sense. Look at Michigans and Oklahomas conference schedule last year.
Back in the early 70's I used to think ND's schedule was generally lame and they were over-ranked. (What can I say?...I was a Purdue student)...you can probably go back and look at the schedules and prove me wrong...but my main point is that for the past umpteen years I have thought that ND's schedule has been very tough...and more power to them.
All I am saying is that there is no benefit to making your current schedule more difficult, to the contrary, it will pay to make it less difficult if you can. I don’t have any problem with anyone that wants to add to their SOS, except Alabama.
Re: SOS. We've talked about this point before but it bears repeating. Many upper level programs, ND included, in the past have set schedules up to 7-10 years into the future. ND never has shied away from scheduling strong programs. However, it sometimes happens that a program that's strong when scheduled has fallen on hard times when the actual games are played. It appears that the relationsip with the ACC coupled with a shorter lead time in scheduling, has made ND's schedules in recent years respectable, if not as tough as a meat grinder conference schedule (written sincerely, not sarcastically).
Wasn't arguing your points...they are well staked out. This whole thing just kinda reminded my about how my feelings about ND's schedule have changed. Personally, I agree with you...folks can get penalized for a tough schedule and rewarded for an easy one. But I don't have to like it.
Adding to Sid's post, to complicate the scheduling problem further, ND tries to have 6 home games and a 7th on a neutral field for their Shamrock Series. To accomplish this we've had to play schools like MAC schools that will come in and pick up a large payday and play on national TV. Some like N. Ill come in kick our ass and pick up a nice payday to boot.
Yeah, I think that’s the same reason Alabama had to take one year, neutral site games to get quality out of conference games as well as smaller programs to fill out our schedule. We have to play 8 conference games and for the last 15 to 20 years we tried to play a major out of conference opponent. That left 3 games to fill out the 12 game schedule.
I have no problem with a MAC school or two...mebbe cause they've kicked a lot of Big 10 butt over the years.
If you like SP+... In Connelly's SP+ initial 2025 rankings released last month, Ohio State was the top-ranked team, followed by Alabama, Penn State, Georgia and Notre Dame in the top five. Connelly's SP+ projections weigh returning production, recent recruiting and recent history
For as long as I can remember, I've admired Alabama football. This Instagram post could be any program, but it's Alabama. It reminds me of the impact college football players have on "ordinary" people. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DGZg1_0uQh3/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
I guess this is where College Football is headed, I don't have to like it, but the train has already left the station if the Big 10 is looking into Private Equity. https://www.chicagobusiness.com/spo...ment?share-code=17418103679081665-1958c1fbde6 Private equity is making inroads in the sports industry, from the NFL to European soccer teams. Some experts say it wouldn't be too far-fetched for the Big Ten Conference to make the leap to private equity. Sports website Sportico reported in late January that the U.S.'s oldest and largest Division I college athletic conference based in Rosemont had retained the investment bank Evercore to field bids from private equity investors. More
I can see the case for a viable private equity deal at the conference level much easier than I can see it at the school level....I'd be surprised if we didn't see some meaningful investment getting into the multi-billion dollar scale eventually. Big business getting bigger.....long way from dear old U.