Just wanted to address an item I noticed on TheBigLead.com. One of their commenters did a rather large amount of work (though not that thorough if you think about it) in deciding if ND plays a SEC-level schedule.
Here’s the part where he gets tripped up:
My understanding is that Notre Dame has a guaranteed shot at a BCS game every season as long as it wins approximately 10 games.
That’s wrong, and to verify that it’s wrong, I entered the words “notre,” “dame,” “bcs,” “automatic,” and “berth,” into Google and found this:
Notre Dame will have an automatic berth if it is in the top eight of the final BCS Standings.
That’s it. There is no prescription for an automatic berth into a BCS game for a 10-win Notre Dame. And the absence of that “fact” undermines the writer’s entire argument.
It may seem a minor quibble, but I find myself having to smite misunderstandings like this all the time. Before you know it, the same people will think that Obama is from Iraq, Delaware really is a “southern” state, and/or Velveeta really is cheese. Such violations of truth must be stopped. I’m simply here to help.
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Maybe he’s thinking about the official unofficial criteria that if we have 10 wins, we WILL be in the top 12 and receive an at-large bid and no BCS bowl committee would be foolish enough to pass on ND.
There’s a persistent misperception that we have some sort of “special” rules with the BCS that make it easier to make a BCS bowl. In my opinion, our route is actually more difficult. Any BCS conference team can make it in by winning their conference, even if they have three or four losses (*cough*ACC*cough*). ND has to be top 8. Now, I realize that our cachet is such that we’re just about guaranteed to make it if we’re eligible at all, but our at-large eligibility requirement is the same as anyone else’s.
I agree. They shoot horses don’t they?
Yes, but ND COULD make it to a BCS game even if they’re ranked outside of the top 8.
Kevin,
Perhaps, but that’s no more of a joke than a Big East or ACC team getting an auto berth just for winning their conference.
@domer.mq – you’re definitely correct with your correction (I double checked it) and you are also correct in implying I should have checked my perceptions. It was my understanding that 10 wins got ND in when in fact it is top 8 BCS ranking. I should have said,
hmmmm…I guess strikethrough html doesn’t work here so I’ll try again with,
Kevin, sure, ND could make a BCS bowl if they finished outside the top 8. So could any other BCS conference team that doesn’t win their conference, as long as they finish in the top 12.
The only rule we don’t have to deal with is the two-per-conference restriction, but I can pretty much guarantee you that every conference that wouldn’t be line for a third team is happy with that rule. The conferences are free to make that go away any time they want, I’m pretty sure we don’t have enough pull to force it to stay in place.