We can’t take credit for what happened around the nation. After all, top 10 teams losing in 2020 seems rather normal at this point.

We do, however, apologize for making your Saturday a bit more stressful than needed. That being said, we do not apologize for being happy about a win and embracing the Irish’s new #3 ranking. Winning is the damn point and we are here to remind you of that in this episode.

Podcast

Twitch VoD

The post HLS Recap: When the Sim Became Reality appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

As we will attempt to do after all night games this season, Shane and I hit record shortly after the final whistle.

Come for the level-headed, we got to sleep on it recap of the national scene in week 1. Stay for the knee-jerk reactions about ND’s less-than-optimal performance.

Podcast

Twitch Broadcast

The post HLS Podcast: Week 1 Recap appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Plus, Shane regales us with tales of a Chicago trip done to perfection. We debut a brand new segment for the season. We revel in college football’s opening kickoffs. We have an unbelievable technical meltdown because I decided to turn off my XBox to reduce background noise.

This pod has everything.

Podcast

Twitch Broadcast – Full Episode

Notre Dame @ Louisville NCAA Sim

Knight’s Watch Debut!

Bonus: Blooper Reel

The post HLS Podcast: Week 1 Preview, Notre Dame at Louisville Sim appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

My first non-Zima-re-release dip into this sparkling booze pool came back when Mrs. Tex and I attempted the keto diet. While, yes, you can certainly have liquor, we craved a beer substitute–something that you could just pull out of the fridge and crack open, or throw into a cooler for an outing.

It’s fine for what it is, which is pretty much the same that I could say for light beer. Even though I’m not doing keto anymore, with football season around the corner, I’ve strongly considered the lower carb option to try and curb the myriad bad eating and drinking habits I will have during the season.

But along came this, and I think I haven’t been this jealous of Notre Dame students since Taco Bell opened in LaFun:

Y’all, the worst part about throwing any kind of party on campus was the hard liquor bans. You had few choices to deliver a beer alternative to guests that hated it, especially the crappy variants that populated dorm parties (because you aren’t buying wine that’s worth a crap). But now, you can grab a 6 or 24-pack of these bad boys, or even grab a 25 oz tall boy packing a stronger ABV punch than beer.

And if that wasn’t enough:

In comes 14% ABV of “fuck it, let’s get hammered” glory. We are truly blessed, even if the blessing might kill us. Eat your heart out, Mad Dog.

The thing I love most this whole trend is that it’s steering into the same direction that light beers have. Instead of dressing themselves up like Zima or projecting that they are a healthy alternative, Natty’s marketing pitch is basically “we heard you like seltzer so let’s save you money on the thing you want to drink.” Sold.

It’s not complicated and it’s honestly perplexing that it took this long to get here. I welcome our new seltzer overlords with open arms and look forward to partaking in my fair share this season.

The Roundup

First, some charity things. Y’all came through huge on the charity sim. As I write this, we raised $1,637.74 in a week to do what was literally a PPV video game sim. I’m over halfway to my $6k goal and I can’t thank y’all enough. But we’re not stopping there, Biscuit has some SC tickets available for auction that will support the ND general scholarship fund.

Want Viewpoint letters in your inbox? The ND/SMC Observer just started an email newsletter service for students and alumni. Support the student journalism and sign up.

Yo dawg, I heard you liked preseason polls. So we put all the preseason polls in a consensus preseason poll.

Get familiar with this year’s rule changes. I wrote about this before, but get the simple facts straight from the horse’s mouth.

The banner society has a football website now. Miss EDSBS? Their new mothership has relaunched and has exactly what you’d expect from Spencer Hall as well as a love letter to the wheel route.

Dive into the mind of an elite RB. If Wisconsin’s going to do anything, it will be because of what Jonathan Taylor can do and see.

#sportsmath is great. But visualization is better.

Opponent Watch

Wondering what a Louisville fan’s mindset is? Well, it starts with accepting a loss to ND next Monday.

At least they’ll look good. Creating an alternate jersey inspired by Mohammad Ali? Yeah, that slaps in a million different ways.

The post Friday Roundup: The Hard Seltzer Edition appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

For those unfamiliar with this little feature, it’s a time in which we move our focus from Notre Dame and look outward to the rest of college football. While Shane and I do this in the HLS Podcast, we can only cover so many stories before we lose everyone with a two-plus hour episode. The Roundup will house those stories, plus those that really don’t need more than a quick link and mention.

As is tradition, the Roundup will also have a cold open of sorts. It may or may not have anything to do with college football (teaser for next week: it’s a recent drink trend). Bucking tradition, I am going to retire The Beer/The Booze section.

Let’s face it, maybe about 80% of my suggests were half-assed, nor overly interesting. That got worse when I had kids.

Added in its place will be an opponent watch of sorts. While Irish Elvis will hold down the fort on the strength of schedule side, I’ll drop in some relevant news about our future opponent for your perusal.

Oh, and because so many awesome stories are in The Athletic these days, those links will be denoted with ($). If you don’t have a sub, and would like support HLS, we can get your 40% off your first year.

So that’s the 411 on this little feature. Let’s get to the news so I can close some tabs on my browser…

The Roundup

Oh hey, here’s a shocker, Jim Harbaugh might be a dick. Remember when Harubaugh went on the radio and said, because of current transfer rules, kids might make up a mental health disorder? Well, it turns out he may have just had a specific athlete in mind ($) when he said that and the picture isn’t a pretty one. None too pleased with his portrayal in this tale, Harbaugh decided to fire back at Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell, who then fired back at Harbaugh once again.

Secretly in the bad guy category: Dabo Swinney. It seems that Kelly Bryant not getting a ring triggered this post, but there is no better collection and details of Dabo’s troublesome takes an actions. Dabo “aw shucks” it and isn’t robotic like Saban so too often he gets a free pass. So if you ever wonder why folks like me are sour on him, here ya go.

THE dumbest trademark application ever. If this goes through, I’m going to put up merch with “THE” on it in our store, just to see what Ohio State’s cease and desist looks like.

Mike Leach, forever weird. Stories about Wyoming, having a freshmen make him a specific kind of coffee, dipping, getting his players to dip, and demanding one of his players write “fuck” on a whiteboard because he left out the word in his notes while quoting Leach: all just a part of a perfectly normal QB meeting with the pirate ($).

I still want the sponsor to be Popeyes. But I’m happy the Bahamas Bowl has brought in some solid ROI for a *checks notes* Chicago suburb.

Stupid academic eligibility rulings, not just for the NCAA. The Michigan High School Athletic Association saw a Northwestern commit took too many classes before he entered high school so they took away his final year of eligibility. Seriously.

In case you haven’t noticed, college football is celebrating 150 years. This past week, that’s brought out loads of “all time” rankings and retrospectives. Both Sports Illustrated and ESPN named their top programs of all time. SI also ranked the best CFB games of all time. Finally, new ESPN employee, Bill Connelly, listed his rankings based on 150 years of #sportsmath. Spoiler alert, here’s your #1:

Excited about that new QB that transferred to your favorite team? Don’t be ($).

Opponent News

So was Bobby Petrino trying to light Louisville on fire? Because it sure seems that way based on what their new head coach had to say. Also, I would highly recommend hearing that post read aloud by Rakes on his recent podcast who joined up with Notre Dame Our Blogger to break down the entire schedule.

It seems like Virginia Tech has some issues as well. Attrition certainly is a word you could use to describe Justin Fuente’s struggles with the Hokies last season. One of the things that healed the wounds: turkey bacon. *blinks repeatedly*

A look a where Notre Dame stands in the world of college football. Pro Football focus ranked all 130 FBS QBs and The Athletic took a special focus on the top draft-eligible offensive tackles coming into the season ($).

The post (Re)Introducing the Friday Roundup appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Who To Watch

Syracuse (7-2) vs Louisville (2-7), Fri 7:00 PM ET on ESPN2

via GIPHY

Syracuse is quickly becoming a force thanks to future Notre Dame Head Coach Dino Babers. This Friday night matchup won’t be close — the betting line currently has the Orange favored by three touchdowns, but Irish fans *will* get to drink in some sweet Brian “No Spaces In My Last Name” VanGorder as he (probably) wraps up his tenure as defensive coordinator for Louisville. While there’s still a slim chance Notre Dame will see Louisville head man Bobby Petrino when the season kicks off next year, this will probably be the closest we get to a BVG sighting.

Irish fans looking ahead to next week’s showdown in Yankee Stadium should look at Louisville’s offensive yards-per-play, as the Orange defense isn’t known to be too stingy.

Also this Week

Other Upcoming Opponents

• Southern Cal (5-4) vs California (Sat 10:30 PM ET, ESPN)

Past Opponents

• Wake Forest (4-5) at NC State (Thu 7:30 PM ET, ESPN)
• Northwestern (5-4) at Iowa (Fri 3:30 PM ET, Fox)
• Vanderbilt (4-5) at Missouri (Sat 12:00 PM ET, SEC Network)
• Navy (2-7) at UCF (Sat 12:00 PM ET, ESPN2)
• Michigan (8-1) at Rutgers (Sat 3:30 PM ET, Big Ten Network)
• Virginia Tech (4-4) at Pittsburgh (Sat 3:30 PM ET, ESPNU)
• Stanford (5-4) vs Oregon State (Sat 9:00 PM ET, )

Strength-of-Schedule Rankings

Last week, ND opponents went 4-7. On the year, opponents have a combined record of 56-52 (51.9%) with an average schedule strength of 39.

Rank	Team		Record	Weekly Change
6		Stanford	5-4	↑ 3
11		Northwestern	5-4	↑ 9
17		Pittsburgh	5-4	↓ 2
18		Michigan	8-1	↑ 5
22		Southern Cal	5-4	↓ 14
33		Vanderbilt	4-5	↓ 6
35		Florida State	4-5	↑ 3
46		Notre Dame	9-0	↓ 1
48		Wake Forest	4-5	↓ 1
51		Virginia Tech	4-4	↑ 10
64		Navy	2-7	↑ 9
74		Syracuse	7-2	↑ 2
90		Ball State	3-7	↑ 11

The post Opponent Watch: Sad VanGorder Edition appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Image courtesy @AuburnElvis

Playoff Rankings: Week 4 Results

Each week, the TCB Poll is an aggregate of all our inputs. Scroll down to see individual selections and opinions — this is how we’d like to see the College Football Playoff if we had to narrow the field *right now* to determine a national champion. Images courtesy The Helmet Project.

Rank	Team		Record	Weekly Change
1		Alabama	4-0	—
2		Louisville	4-0	—
3		Michigan	4-0	—
4		Houston	4-0	+ 1

Also receiving votes: Ohio State, Stanford.

TCB Committee Member Comments

@AuburnElvis

Things are looking better in the college football world. (Translation: my team won). So here’s my latest four playoff teams.

1. Michigan – They certainly look good against floundering Penn State.
2. Alabama – But I will say Texas A&M is looking more and more like a potential ‘Bama stumbling block.
3. Louisville – But come on, do we REALLY believe Louisville will win the ACC and beat Houston?
4. Stanford – Washington isn’t really living up to the hype, so let’s slot the Cardinal here until a second SEC or Big 10 team comes along.

@HawkeyeElvis

Another rough week for half of our College Football Elvis brethren. Man that had to have been a wild last few minutes for Auburn Elvis, huh? Here’s the Hawkeye Elvis Top Four:

1. Alabama – Just trudging along through the season. Nothing really scary until they play Texas A&M.
2. Ohio State – Same. Although that Wisconsin match-up could be a doozy.
3. Louisville – Elimination game on Saturday night at Clemson.
4. Houston – They are going to run the table, but really, how good was that win over Oklahoma?

On deck – Clemson, a certain khaki-wearing coached team I refuse to name, Stanford/Washington winner

@IrishElvis

1. Alabama. Wake me when they actually lose a game.
2. Lousiville. How do you do, Clemson?
3. Michigan. Ugh.
4. Houston. If Houston TCB, they may end the season ranked higher than #4.

Next up: Winner of this week’s Stanford/Washington Pac-12 matchup.

The post TCB Poll 2016: Week 4 appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Image courtesy @AuburnElvis

Playoff Rankings: Week 2 Results

Each week, the TCB Poll is an aggregate of all our inputs. Scroll down to see individual selections and opinions — this is how we’d like to see the College Football Playoff if we had to narrow the field *right now* to determine a national champion. Images courtesy The Helmet Project.

Rank	Team		Record	Weekly Change
1		Alabama	2-0	—
2		Michigan	2-0	+ 1
3		Florida State	2-0	+ 1
4		Clemson	2-0	-2

Also receiving votes: Ohio State, Washington, Houston.

TCB Committee Member Comments

@AuburnElvis

1. Alabama – Any chance Bama loses a third-straight to Ole Miss? [fingers crossed]
2. Michigan – I don’t have to do much thinking on this one until that Wisconsin game.
3. FSU? – I know Clemson isn’t last year’s Clemson, so no chance there, but NO WAY am I predicting Louisville upsets FSU this week. That’s crazy talk.
4. Washington – Again, I guess this is good for now.

@HawkeyeElvis

1. Alabama – The most exciting part of the Tide’s game on Saturday was watching Saban go off on Kiffin.
2. Florida State – Someone is going to come out of the ACC on top right?
3. Ohio State – I’m ignoring a certain khaki-wearing idiot for now.
4. Clemson – Yep. I’m saying the ACC has two teams in.

On deck – Michigan, Louisville

@IrishElvis

1. Alabama. A loss will make their playoff case much more difficult, but no other SEC program seems qualified for the postseason.
2. Clemson. Eked out a win, but I’ll keep them here and gather a couple more data points before replacing them with FSU
3. Michigan. Khakis are overrated.
4. Houston. The Cougars have a good win on the books and will wait for the Big 5 conferences to cannibalize those currently ranked ahead of them

The post TCB Poll: 2016 Week 2 appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

But hey, there were a few good things and we highlight those along with the bad as well. Here’s to hoping the next episode is a happy celebration of the fall of Troy.

Beat SC.

Download this episode (right click and save)

The post HLS TV (Episode 13): Seeing Red appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

However, this show must go on and we must trudge through yet another week of this. As always, you can enter via this handy Google form and I will award points and bonus points accordingly next week.

Before we get to the standings in which there was very little movement, here’s my favorite quotes from the week. Spoiler alert: I’m still angry about this loss and no one got bonus points.

Solid win after last week’s fluster cuck. – Davie Dave

And this week we had the total clusterf*&k.

Game will be closer than everyone wants but we pull out a win at home. I would say we’re going to sweat out the win but it’ll be too cold for anyone to sweat. Students and snow in the stadium means a snow ball fight during the game or at halftime. – Irishyoder1

I’ll give you this, the game was certainly closer than everyone wanted.

“Shake it off” played during the high (low) lights from asu. ND comes out sluggish, gives up 10 early points, probably with the help of a Golson turnover. Irish come strong in 2nd quarter and are cruising to an easy win with Zaire coming in with 8 minutes left in the game. Zaire throws a TD and a pick 6 just to keep everybody interested. This kool aid is delicious. – stogiesnbeer

Don’t drink the Kool-aid. It’s poison.

It’s a known fact that cold weather makes balls shrink. Therefore, Everett’s passes will be harder to intercept since the ball will be much smaller. Notre Dame wins big, and I will be warm and naked on my couch, reminiscing of my blackout during the BYU game. I hate snow.

Sincerely,
Spoiled degenerate southerner. – Dixie Domer

Also shrinking: our expectations, hopes, and dreams. Serious question though: did you blackout again because of this disaster? I wouldn’t judge you for saying yes.

Standings

And after everyone got everything so very wrong, here’s where we stand. Again, no bonus points this week.

[table “” not found /]

HLS Staff Predictions

This can’t get worse…right?

[table “” not found /]

Animal Predictions

Well, my cat is absolutely on fire. That’s a two game straight up winning streak (now 3-7) and his incredible run against the spread continues, rising to 7-3 which is just absurd. Do not bet against Gulliver.

This week’s pick (and I think we can assuming it’s against the spread by now):

And with such a small spread, I was afraid of that pick. Oh well, Go Irish, grab a few drinks. Looks like we will need ’em.

The post Predictions: We Are Not Good At This… appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.