In a move that must seriously put his iron-clad reputation at risk, Phil Steele has picked ND as the #19 team in his preseason Top 25.
Even as an uber-ND fan, I think that's madness. Sweet, sweet madness. The kind you only find in Dickens novels.
His thus-far revealed Top 25, exposed daily is:
#19 - Notre Dame
#20 - California
#21 - Wisconsin
#22 - Oregon
#23 - Tennessee
#24 - Florida St.
#25 - Pittsburgh
Stay tuned for tomorrow's big reveal of #18, which, given the trend Phil's established thus far, must be Duke.
By The Biscuit May 29, 2008 - 10:27 am
wow. even in the HLS NON-homer poll i doubt ND will crack the top 25…i like what he’s smoking though.
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By DeepTeaKup May 29, 2008 - 4:04 pm
Okay, so in CW’s 4th year with all the recruiting success he has had, the easier schedule next year, you still are not expecting (or demanding) a Top 25 finish? Talk about lowered expecatations.
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By The Biscuit May 29, 2008 - 6:18 pm
I don’t think it’s unrealistic, but I wouldnt put us there now. As I noted on another post I think 8-4 will happen if we play decently and get a few bounces. 7-5 probably more likely. 6-6 bottom of the barrel.
Too many question marks at this point to put us Top 25. Besides, a Top 25 poll in May makes no sense. We have fun with them, but we all agree they’re pretty useless and don’t make any sense. If I had it my way they’d come out 4 games in or so. If I had to put ND somewhere, I’d put them in the low 30′s. But that’s just as random as 19 or 2.
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By domer.mq May 30, 2008 - 9:49 am
DTK,
There’s a difference between “expectations for the coaching and management of the program” and “expectations for a season.”
I expect the coach and those in charge of the program to exceed my expectations when it comes to the results of this season.
Irrational? Maybe. College Football? Definitely.
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By DeepTeaKup May 30, 2008 - 12:41 pm
Domer, that sort of makes sense but this remains a problem does it not? There are only ~120 Div 1A FB teams, and in year 4 of the CW era, when he has had a chance to install his system, get more of “his guys” you still don’t expect ND to be in the top 20% of D1 FB teams?
Seems like you expected more from Ty.
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By The Biscuit May 30, 2008 - 3:23 pm
DTK, that’s not true at all. We expected 7-5 from Ty and some MODICUM of effort in recruiting. The sense that he was doing something to make it better. Instead he went 6-6 with no recruiting headway. Gonzers.
Ty also didn’t do what CW did in his first 2 years – which was bring in 2 BCS bowls and 2 awesome recruiting classes. That gets you more patience from me (if not us). Granted, Ty didn’t go 3-9 either, but I’m willing to call last year a clusterF of massive proportions on all fronts – talent level, experience level, coaching and schedule. Charlie takes the blame for more than half of the results, but not all of it.
I do expect a good showing this season, but I dont know if I’d rank us Top 25 at this point. I expect improvement, and a direction for the team this year. A transition from horrid to good.
In a year I’ll expect a Top 15 pre-season, and a Top 10 finish at the worst. Just not yet.
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By domer.mq May 31, 2008 - 9:39 am
DTK, what Biscuit said. It’s not as if we’re not pretty well aware of what our coaches are doing at just about any time of the year. Hell, didn’t ND fans pretty much invent stalking of university owned jets? We knew where Ty was and what he was doing. Hard for the HC of ND to keep a low profile. We know that Charlie is doing his best to turn the program around from a very bad year. Do that, and you may actually get a little more leeway than if you are known to be out of the golf course 90% of your “off days.” As the HC of ND, we pay you so there aren’t many “off days.”
That said, Charlie must pass the “sniff test.” I’m not gonna get into the notion of “acceptable records,” but if it doesn’t feel to me like we’ll be contending for an NC in 2009, I’m not going to defend him either. He’s a domer, he’s giving it his best, but you also must show that you can win. You must show that you will win. Best way to do that is to win now.
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