I really don't like the draw of Iowa State. This is a very good team, with a great coach and a winner for a QB. They will be very tough. If the boys don't show up with their big boy pants, they will get their ass kicked.
I made the mistake of popping over to NDN to see what the folks there were saying about Iowa State. Needless to say, if our team took the same outlook of Iowa State as our idiot fans do, it will make our night in Ann Arbor seem like a weekend on the beach.
Bad weekend for the Irish Hockey swept by BC, on 5 game losing Streak Men's Basketball loses to the BC, Tom Noie in the South Bend Tribune speculates the end is near for Brey. Women's Basketball blown out by UCONN, fall be low. 500 for the first time in years maybe decades.
I'm one of the idiot fans Corey is referring to unfortunately. How does a 10-2 ND get matched up with a 7-5 Iowa State in a December 28 noon bowl game? Talk about zero upside! Meanwhile 9-3 Michigan plays 10-2 Alabama. The only way this game pans out is if we roll these guys by 3 TDS or more. Anything less is kissing your sister. And a loss is unfathomable. I don't care what the bookies say, we need to crush these guys. The gods are sending ND a message that we no longer rate a big bowl game even with 10 wins. We have to start winning some big games and win lesser games big.
The message is that the bowls have entered into agreements that allow the tallest midget in the ACC Coastal to get ripped in the conference championship game and saunter into the Orange Bowl with 4 losses. Tell the gods that their bowl agreements are stupid and lead to boring match ups that reward mediocrity.
All of these bowl matchups are determined almost 100% by contracts. There is little match making going on. Conferences all have deals with bowls and a system for assigning their teams. Say they have 7 contracts for their members, those get rated and a pecking order is established. So that Bowl A gets the first pick of teams not going to the CFP, Bowl B gets the next pick, Bowl C the next pick. The Irish currently sort of riff off of that system. So that if they can get "picked" as an ACC team for certain ACC bowls including the Orange Bowl. But for the New Years 6 which is the 2 CFP games plus the Orange, Rose, Sugar and Cotton Bowls. It's pretty rare for a team not ranked in the top 12 to get into one of those bowls. The exception is the top ranked Group of 5 team. Michigan and Alabama play because of the contracts and they are 13 and 14 in the CFP rankings. With the Group of 5 taking one of the top 12 slots, that leaves 11 for the New Years 6. 1, 2, 3 and 4 are in the CFP 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 are in the 4 Major Bowls #17 Memphis is in the Cotton due to Group of 5 exception #24 Virginia who was beaten 62-14 by Clemson is in the Orange...this to me is a bit of a head scratcher but it's all due to contracts with the ACC and the Orange Bowl. They get the next highest ranked ACC team if the ACC champion is in the CFP, that is Virginia. Utah at #11 is rewarded by playing Texas (7-5) who lost to Iowa State in a bowl right down the road from the UT campus. Bottom line is the Bowls are controlled by the Conferences and ESPN, the Irish are a part of neither.
Here is the Orange Bowl deal.. The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is locked into a 12-year deal (2014–2025) with the Orange Bowl, so if the ACC champion qualifies for the playoffs in a year when the Orange Bowl is not a semifinal host, the next-highest ranked ACC team will play in the Orange Bowl. For the secondary tie-ins, the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the Big Ten Conference are guaranteed three appearances each, and the University of Notre Dame can play in a maximum of two games, but is not guaranteed any appearances. The ACC team's opponent in a given year will be the highest-ranked available team from the SEC, Big Ten, and Notre Dame, subject to several constraints: the SEC and Big Ten champions are always excluded, and when an SEC and/or Big Ten team qualifies for the College Football Playoff, the next available team would also be excluded from participating in the Orange Bowl due to contractual obligations with the Sugar Bowl and Rose Bowl, respectively. Also, should a highest-ranked team create a rematch with the ACC team, the Orange Bowl has the option of passing over that team for the next-highest ranked team among the Big Ten, SEC, and Notre Dame, again subject to the noted constraints. Rankings are based on the College Football Playoff committee's rankings. ESPN holds the television rights for 12 years as well.[11]
I think Alabama-Michigan in the Citrus is a great match-up.... one to look forward to for sure. Fla - ND would have been an anticipated and intriguing game.... but that conference tie-in crap prevented it. Too bad.....
If Virginia has dropped out of the top 25, would ND have had an opportunity to go to the OB? I thought it odd that VA remained in the committee’s top 25 after being mauled by Clemson.
I guess I didn't read that correctly. It's the #2 ACC team, no matter what I guess and all those options for the OB is for the Opponent's Slot. Gators being the highest ranked team available put them there over ND and Michigan, but it was always going to be Fla due to ranking. ND v UVA would also have been a rematch.
..if the ACC champion qualifies for the playoffs in a year when the Orange Bowl is not a semifinal host, the next-highest ranked ACC team will play in the Orange Bowl. —————————— The words I focused on were the “next-highest ranked ACC team” which seemed to suggest that if their was no ranked ACC team other than the champion, the OB could have plugged in ND into the ACC slot. Considering ND’s affiliation with the ACC and the benefits the ACC derives from it, it seems short sided for the ACC not to have a more expansive mechanism to allow ND in the OB if the champion goes to the playoffs
Well anyway the Winter of our discontent starts now. Irish fans upset and indignant over having to play in the Camping World Bowl and esp so vs Iowa State. ND basketball fans are in for a rough time this season, best they can hope for really is that by the end of the season both teams are playing better and you might say "better" days are ahead.
Here are my concerns about Iowa State. -They have a better coach. -They have a better QB. -They are a scrappy,well coached team that plays with heart and never gives up. Historically, Kelly has not fared well when those factors are realities.
I'll tune in and watch it but I'm not going to drive for an hour to watch it in person. I just can't get fired up for the "just because you rolled over for Michigan" bowl.
if it means anything I’m expecting Miami to loose to Louisiana Tech in it’s Weed Whacker Bowl... I would rather it never be played. Playing Iowa St. can’t bring peace to any Irish fans no matter the results, I know this hurts to say but I can relate....
I can't figure any of it out. I'm happy for Michigan and actually give them a chance against the Tide. Virginia? That was the worst massacre since Little Big Horn and they are awarded a Jan. 1 game instead of consigned to the Goody's Headache Powder Bowl where they belong. The Irish should be playing Florida or Auburn or someone like that. Iowa State? Oooofahhhh !
I'd give Iowa State more than a puncher's chance against either Florida or, especially, Auburn. That's what really sucks about this bowl game, it really is a no win. I just don't want to be the springboard for the good season that Iowa State is likely to have next year with Purdy being a Junior and likely to have an even bigger season than he's already had in the past. He was the Big12 freshman of the year last year and led them to a 7-2 record with an Alamo Bowl appearance. This year, he's the reason people couldn't put them away. I'd feel better about this if we could run the ball at will, but if this season has taught us anything, it's that we can't.
Sorry, Ralph, but because La. Tech is coached by Skip Holtz, a friend of my son, I'll be rooting for La. Tech.
Clark Lea's name has popped up in the list of candidates that Boston College is reportedly interested in for it's next HC. Of course Irish fans, myself included, hope that Lea stays a few more years. He's reportedly very well liked by the players and he has done a great job. Why can't he become our Bud Foster, or Brent Venables?