Looks like Jack Swarbrick's measuring stick for the '09 season looks a lot like mine.
The message: Swarbrick couldn't make the banquet, but he would be there when the Irish played for the BCS championship in the Rose Bowl next year.
The unspoken subtext: If Notre Dame isn't at least feinting toward that goal, Charlie Weis won't be around to nudge the program any further.
Weis more or less conceded that much in his first comments since Notre Dame announced he would return for a fifth year. Swarbrick labeled a 6-6 campaign in 2008 "unacceptable" after the decision to retain Weis.
Then Weis clearly defined where that bar of acceptability rests for 2009.
"It's important that you're moving toward the BCS discussion," Weis said. "I don't think you can be just a mediocre football team at Notre Dame. I'm not saying you're playing in the national championship game every year—but you have to be in the discussion.
"If you're not in the discussion, I don't think that's what anyone who went to Notre Dame or roots for Notre Dame would ever be looking for."
Good. As I mentioned in a previous post, the '09 schedule certainly has developed into one that should provide an opportunity for such discussion much as Alabama's '08 schedule has for the Tide (currently ranked 73rd). A well coached team with as much talent as will be on the '09 Irish roster should handle Nevada, Michigan (sucks!) with (probably) yet another starting QB and no McGuffie, MSU minus the current stars, Purdue with a new coach, a post-Willingham Washington coached by Sarkozy, BC minus even more of those 5th years, a still worst-in-the-nation WSU, Navy, Pitt, UConn, and Stanford. The only question mark should be Southern Cal. And even that game is "early enough" in the season to be misremembered like a Florida loss to Mississippi - even more justifiably so.
By trey December 6, 2008 - 2:26 pm
I dont think there will ever be a time a ND loss will be “misremembered”. ESPECIALLY if we only have one of them. That one will stand out like a freaking spotlight on a snipe hunt. You know Mark May would beat that to DEATH. Same with the ABC morons.
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By TBoneND December 7, 2008 - 8:52 am
I don’t forsee an 11-1 record more like 9-3 (L- MSU, Pitt and USC) or 10-2 (L- MSU and USC)
If 10-2 CW stays unless (see below)
9-3 with close losses to the 3 above and ranked in top 15 maybe CW stays.
Blowouts by USC and MSU, no running game and 10-2 CW will be gone.
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