The playoff discussions really could have been a day of reckoning for Notre Dame. If ever there was a time to attack Irish Independence, it would've been this summer. Just think about it, Notre Dame had two flash-in-the-pan BCS seasons that resulted in bowl losses to superior opponents, and beyond that, it's been a mix of mediocrity, seasons that make you drink to forget, and some slight hope that things just might be getting better. But a serious power in college football? Far from it. At ...