So I can't let Rick Reilly's article go. Maybe that was part of his cunning plan: so infuriate the Irish that they go on an undefeated run which causes him enormous pleasure because that entire bit about him turning in his fan card was actually a literary deceit. But in all likelihood, he was being sincere and he was actually offended that NBC didn't tear up its contract with Notre Dame. So this season, a season in which The Irish have "returned to relevance" (those are air quotes - we've never ...
NDtex25
HLS Pre-Snap Read: Party Like It’s 1993
After nearly a full month of Notre Dame football withdrawal, the Champs Sports Bowl is finally just around the corner and thus, the pre-snap read has returned from its holiday slumber as well. Â It's been far too long, so let's get to it. ...well, there hasn't been much to be honest. Seriously, until yesterday's post about what we at HLS think are five of the top ten stories of this season for ND, there has been very little going on here. Blame the turkey, the presents, and in ...
HLS Pre-Snap Read: Superpost Edition!
This week's edition of the Pre-Snap read is going to be a bit different today. Â It just so happens that the questions for this week's Irish Blogger Gathering covers what I would usually put in for the "Previously on HLS" and "Outside the Bubble Sections". Â So for this week, I will mix in the IBG questions with the usual topics covered in the Pre-Snap Read. There is quite a bit of content in this post and, to not make it a huge wall of text, I'm going to take advantage of some features of ...
NDtex25: Double Dose
After a week off, the NDtex25 has returned to deliver a double dose of my rankings for the past two weeks.  As always, you can check out the formula details if you are new to this or need a refresher. I won't be doing too much analysis this week since doing the rankings alone took up so much time.  However, I will say that over these past two weeks, the rankings are becoming far more stable with very little jumping around. These rankings are starting to become much more of an alternative ...
NDtex25 Week 7: Taking on the BCS
Rank Team Score Last Week BCS Rank AP Rank Coaches' Rank 1 LSU 115.25 1 1 1 2 2 Alabama 113.5 5 2 2 3 3 Boise State 113.5 4 5 5 7 4 Oklahoma State 113.5 2 4 6 6 5 Oklahoma 108.75 3 3 3 1 6 Clemson 105.5 6 7 8 8 7 Wisconsin 104.25 15 6 4 4 8 South Carolina 103.5 7 14 14 12 9 Auburn 102 22 20 19 23 10 Stanford 99 10 8 7 5 11 Houston 98 ...
NDtex25: Week 6
Welcome to this week's edition of my little ranking experiment that is the NDtex25. Last week, I was unfortunately in a bit of a rush trying to introduce the method to my madness to my new reading audience here at HLS, so I will try to give a better explanation as to how these teams get their rankings. I had an idea to create a ranking system with as simple of a formula as possible. The main thing I wanted teams to be ranked on was wins and losses, the margin of victory, and the strength ...
NDtex25: Week 5
Yes, yes, I am very well aware that games have already been played for two nights now, placing us well into week 6 and some of you may very well be reading this while Saturday's games are in progress or done. Blame a work week from hell and my cat betraying me and rebooting my computer while attempting to do all the data entry last night. But hey, the good news is the rankings are done and are finally making their debut here at HLS. For those unaware of what the NDtex25 is, I will do a ...