The NYT Thinks ND’s Schedule Is Weak
domer.mq
I can’t help but notice that the New York Time’s excellent college sports blog, The Quad (yes, I said it, the NYT, despite not understanding what’s happening to it and its industry, has an excellent college sport blog), thinks that ND’s 2009 schedule is pretty weak. No. They haven’t come right out and said it, but they have certainly implied it, purposely or not, by ranking all 120 D1 College Football teams leading up to the season and doing the following….
- Ranking Michigan (sucks!) at #57
- Ranking Boston College at #60
- Ranking Navy at #64
- Ranking Uconn at #68
- Ranking Purdue at #94
- Ranking Washington at #99
- Ranking Washington State at #114
That’s 7 teams on ND’s 2009 schedule that aren’t even considered “Top 50″ material by the NYT. And even the 2 best ranked opponents thus far are barely even in the top half of all of college football according to The Quad.
One other interesting note: Nevada hasn’t been ranked yet by The Quad, as far as I can tell, meaning they’re considered better than 7 of ND’s other opponents. Nevada is not your father’s SDSU. They’re far, far better.
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15 Comments
Woo-hoo, #57!!! If RichRod can keep this pace of improvement up UM will win the MNC in 2010.
I agree Domer. I grew up in NV and Ault has an outstanding reputation as a coach. They are better by far than SDSU in terms of coaching and scheme if not talent ( I think SDSU’s QB is talented and played very well against ND). Having said that, Maryland ran all over them in the Frozen Tundra Bowl in Idaho in December so I’m optimistic about ND’s offensive output in the game. I think that NV should play tough but ND should win somewhat comfortably.
Nevada is the 2nd most scary game for ND after USC. Nothing shocking there, but people like to compare them to SDSU bc it’s the first game of the year – that’s about where the comparisons end.
I’ve been telling you Navy is not a “weak” team for years…
Interesting that tOSU opens with Navy and nobody says a word.
There is always some fluidity or volatility between preseason rankings and actual ranking of college football teams during the season. Yes, some teams seem to always be in the top 25 in both categories. Teams not on anyone’s radar get into and drop off the top 25. As the season progresses, there are teams that get to the top 25 and stay or climb in rankings. The (so-called) experts never/cannot forecast this happening. Stature in preseason can be very different than the September-December scenario. Claiming a team is a preseason top 50 or top 100 is nonsensical. Ignore preseason, its all hype. What matters are the results from the outcome of games during the college football season. Quad is guessing at best. Its all about selling newspapers/media!!
Biscuit–For me Stanford would be second after USC, with MSU a close third. I think Harbaugh badly wants to beat ND this year and he will have his squad motivated. Plus, he has a bruising tailback which could give ND’s young D line fits. NV would be fourth.
Rivals is doing the same thing. They are up to 37 so far and have:
WSU – 104
Washington – 97
Purdue – 76
BC – 68
Navy – 63
Nevada – 57
UConn – 55
Stanford – 54
Pitt – 48
Michigan – 46
So ND, MSU and USC are obviously in the top 36 somewhere.
Adam,
I don’t think anyone’s thought Navy was “weak” since Johnsons really turned things around – unless of course they wanted to trash ND’s scheduling.
SDI, I’d agree. That running game of Stanford’s really worries me against the Irish D. A lot will depend on the Irish offense being able to speed up the game, making Stanford’s bruiser a bit less effective.
Mq–I’m hopeful that by the time we get to the Stanford game Williams, Williams, Newman, KLM, and Johnson will not be playing like a young D line anymore given that they will all have finished at least 2 years in the program. Until I start to see that maturation I will remain nervous about that game. I would also expect to see a lot of Toryan Smith if the Cardinal comes out smash mouth like they did last season.
Nevada, even though it will be a blowout to end all opening game blowouts at ND stadium, should be a fun game to watch. My alma mater runs the same Pistol formation and it’s a wild sight to see in action. I still wanna see the A-10 at some point though…
Teams I fear on ND’s schedule in order:
1. BC
2. USC
3. Navy
4. Purdue
5. Stanford
6. MSU
7. Pitt
8. Wazzu
9. UConn
10. Nevada
11.UM(s!)
12. OPEN DATE
13. U-Dub
BC 1 trey? you’re joking right? They’ve lost everyone. Multiple times. And Purdue 4? They don’t really have a QB yet. Put BC at 7 and Purdue at 9, move Nevada up a bunch and MSU a little, and I’d pretty much agree. But Stanford would have to go above Navy. Hate to say it, but UM (sucks!) should be above Uconn, Wazzu and Pitt too. But other than changing everything I totally agree!
I, too, fear BC above all teams, since they absolutely have our number. USC consistently beats us because they are more taleneted. BC consistently beats us because we are cursed. It’s much easier to bridge the talent gap than it is to rid ourselves of our bad juju against BC. Plus, BC could be a real letdown week after USC. But Purdue should be farther down. Waaaaayyy down. And Wazzu should be down. And Nevada should be up.
should we lose to BC this year, i will buy this curse idea 100%.
BJ already responded for me. That’s why they’re #1. At least we’ve actually beaten USC pretty regularly in the past. And I dont fear scUM until they win at least 4 games again.
UConn has some talent, Wazzu–no telling how we’ll respond in a Neutral Site(not to mention a DOME), and Nevada as I stated is quirky and plays their system well.
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