Coach Lou Holtz [Photo: Jonathan Daniel/Allsport]

I was a child of the Lou Holtz years, when Notre Dame was in the hunt for a national title almost every season. That has not been the case at any point since Holtz left.

In this article, I’m going to look at some of the stated “hurdles” and determine if they’re relevant. Then, I’m going to answer: What is a reasonable expectation for Notre Dame football on an annual basis?

Schedule

“We won nine games two years out of the five. I think the difficulty is sustaining that year after year with the schedule that you play. Particularly the early season schedule is difficult.” – Bob Davie, on the day of his firing in 2001.

If you examine the Sagarin strength of schedule (SOS) over the last five years, the information is somewhat telling.

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

Notre Dame schedules, with the exception of last year, have fallen outside of the top 20 during the past five years. This would seem to indicate that a difficult schedule has not and should not be a barrier to being competitive, simply because the schedules have not been that difficult in relation to other top programs.

Graduation Rate

“But what matters most is excellence. Notre Dame stands for doing things the right way, and in this age of college football factories exhausting players’ eligibility with 50 percent graduation rates, questionable degrees, and long rap sheets, the ND way has never been needed more as a beacon for the rest of the sport.” – Jim Lefebvre

For years, admission standards have been bandied about as an obstacle to Notre Dame competing year in and year out – in that limits who the Irish can actually recruit.

A look at graduation success rate for football players over the last four years seems to indicate schools with top graduation rates do not typically factor into the national championship mix on a year in and year out basis.

2011-12

2012-13

2013-14

2014-15

Recruiting

“So I put those out to you because there are a lot of components that go into the recruiting today. And here at the University of Notre Dame, we clearly have our vision as to the kind of player that we’re going to recruit at the University of Notre Dame.” – Brian Kelly, 2010

Many of the top analysts have suggested that Notre Dame cannot recruit the “top players” on a regular basis as compared to some of the top football powers. While I’m not a fan of looking at recruiting rankings, we can at least look at how 247 Sports has ranked each year’s class to gauge how effective Notre Dame is recruiting as compared to top programs.

2011

2012

2013

2014

A couple of items come to mind here when I examine recruiting. First, a highly rated class doesn’t get you anything. I could throw a list of people together in my head who were high profile recruits at many schools (including ND) but never really panned out. Secondly, from 2011-2014, Notre Dame posted two top 10 classes – not exactly indicative of school that can “no longer recruit.”

Conclusion

Simon Chun

So what can we expect or what should we expect from Notre Dame football teams in light of this? Are there obstacles or hurdles for Notre Dame?

In the way of scheduling and recruiting I might argue they are well-overplayed. Notre Dame continues to recruit in the top 20 consistently. The schedule argument, as I mentioned earlier, also seems exaggerated. The graduation rate is there and is a real figure. I do agree with the anecdotal aspects that suggest there are certain players that Notre Dame cannot and will not recruit. They should be applauded for this.

Given this information, I think it is likely we will not see Notre Dame in the hunt year and year out.

Now before I get blown up here and in the other forms of social media, that does not mean they will not be in the hunt regularly. In 2012, they went to the national championship game. In 2013, they took a step back. I would argue only injuries and some sloppy play (2014) and a couple of soul-crushing road losses (2015) kept them out of the hunt in those years.

Add it up and you get a team that has been on the cusp of breaking through a couple of times in the last four years. That is what I believe is a likely norm in this age of Notre Dame football. As such, a reasonable expectation should be Notre Dame teams that frequently play in big bowl games and make a runs at the title, combined with the occasional team that experiences a drop off year. This will become the norm given Notre Dame and the cyclical nature of modern college football.

The post What Should The Yearly Expectations Be For ND Football? appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Image courtesy @AuburnElvis

Playoff Rankings: 2014 Bowl Games

Each week, the T.C.B. Poll is an aggregate of all our inputs. Scroll down to see individual selections and opinions. Images courtesy The Helmet Project.

Rank	Team		Record	Weekly Change
1		Alabama	12-1	—
2		Oregon	12-1	—
3		Florida State	13-0	—
4		Texas Christian	11-1	—

Also receiving votes: Baylor.

TCB Committee Member Comments

@TheLSUElvis

1. Alabama
2. Oregon
3. TCU
4. Florida State

@AuburnElvis

1. Oregon – The only 1-loss team that got a do-over made the most of it.
2. Alabama – Beating Mizzou like a drum means Bama’s easily the 5-or-6th-best team in the Big 10 East
3. TCU – Sorry, Baylor, your best non-conference victory was Buffalo. And if this were the NFL Buffalo instead of the NCAA Buffalo, that would mean something.
4. Florida State – If Ohio State had lost to any decent team on their schedule, I’d have no trouble putting the Buckeyes in over an undefeated FSU team that struggled with a weaker schedule (and considering OSU’s in the Big 10, that’s saying something.) But at the end of the day, barely beating 3 mediocre, ranked teams, and barely beating 6 not-very-good teams was all you needed to do. Congratulations.

@HawkeyeElvis

1. Alabama
2. Oregon
3. Florida State
4. Baylor

@IrishElvis

1. Florida State – I dislike just about everything about this team, but if you win all your games and don’t have a horrendous strength-of-schedule (FSU’s is ranked 37th — ahead of TCU, Ohio State, and Baylor), you should be rewarded with the top slot. The actual committee’s conundrum with teams 4-6 began when they demoted an undefeated and defending national champion out of the #1 spot, in my opinion.
2. Oregon – Avenged their sole loss. It doesn’t always work this cleanly, but they made good on their opportunity to clear any remaining doubts.
3. Alabama – a Bama/Oregon semifinal would be a fascinating clash of styles. Bring it on!
4. Baylor -Conference co-champions? Let’s check the results on October 11…

The post TCB Poll: College Football Playoff appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Image courtesy @AuburnElvis

Playoff Rankings: Week 14

Each week, the T.C.B. Poll is an aggregate of all our inputs. Scroll down to see individual selections and opinions. Images courtesy The Helmet Project.

Rank	Team		Record	Weekly Change
1		Alabama	11-1	+2
2		Oregon	11-1	-1
3		Florida State	12-0	-1
4		Texas Christian	10-1	—

Also receiving votes: Baylor.

TCB Committee Member Comments

@TheLSUElvis

1. Alabama – Nick Saban has a process to his program. The process is working great and without a huge upset by Missouri in the SEC Championship Game, the Tide will be the #1 team.
2. Oregon – With the Heisman front runner playing great football right now, the Ducks are ready to compete for the National Title.
3. TCU – I don’t see Iowa State taking them down and they seem to be a good 3rd seed
4. Florida State – I have been saying all year, the defending National Champion that is undefeated deserves to be in the top 4 if not the top spot. Had Ohio State not lost their QB they might have jumped Florida State in this poll. I hope they are #4 so we can get a Saban vs. Fisher opening round match.

@AuburnElvis

1. Oregon – They seem to have worked out their early-season OL problems. If they trounce Arizona, they’ll likely be the #1 or #2 overall seed.
2. Alabama – I don’t expect the Tide to have much trouble with Mizzou, a team that couldn’t beat Indiana at home.
3. TCU – The Horned Frogs blasted Texas while Baylor struggled with Texas Tech. Head-to-head says Baylor should be here, but I honestly don’t see the Bears beating Kansas State.
4. Florida State – Will lose to Georgia Tech and let Ohio State or Wisconsin slip into the #4 spot. Hilarity will ensue.

@HawkeyeElvis

1. Alabama – Lots of Head Coaching jobs out there for Kiffin. How long does he stay under Uncle Nick’s wing?
2. Oregon – Speaking of wings, I’m really looking forward to the Ducks playoff opponent.
3. TCU – I had earlier penalized the Frogs for a close win against an inferior opponent. I had to do the same to Baylor. Plus I think the Bears get beat by that old wizard Bill Snyder.
4. Florida State – Almost losing to Florida this year should be grounds for keeping them out of the playoffs altogether.

@IrishElvis

1. Florida State – Undefeated 2 years running? I can’t leave ’em off my top spot.
2. Oregon – If their assistant coaching ranks are poached by vacant head coaching jobs between now & the playoff, then I’ll be nervous. For now, I still trust them (and Marcus Mariota’s efficiency) more than Lane Kiffin.
3. Alabama – Their best is enough to beat anybody, but they’ve shown a startling inconsistency for long stretches during the season (longer than FSU, certainly).
4. Baylor – I have to put them in here over TCU, simply because I think actual head-to-head results should matter more than numerical hypotheticals.

The TCB Poll predicted 3-of-4 teams submitted by the College Football Playoff Committee last week, who (as it turns out) gave too much credit to Mississippi State. Barring any unforeseen results in the final weekend, this should be how the playoff shakes out.

The post TCB Poll: Week 14 Reactions appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Image courtesy @AuburnElvis

Playoff Rankings: Week 13

Each week, the T.C.B. Poll is an aggregate of all our inputs. Scroll down to see individual selections and opinions. Images courtesy The Helmet Project.

Rank	Team		Record	Weekly Change
1		Oregon	10-1	+1
2		Florida State	11-0	-1
3		Alabama	10-1	—
4		Texas Christian	9-1	—

Also receiving votes: Mississippi State, Ohio State, Baylor.

TCB Committee Member Comments

@TheLSUElvis

LSU used to play for the Golden Boot on the last weekend of the season, now we play Texas A&M for a trophy that does not exist yet. Oh well…Top 4 going into the final week:

1. Florida State – Still the defending national champs and only unbeaten should be the #1 team each season. Can the Muschamp crew pull off a miracle to take them down in the final week?
2. Alabama – Iron Bowl has been pretty dramatic the last few years. I hope it continues
3. Oregon – I want to see the Ducks and The Tide go head to head in the first playoff game
4. Mississippi State – Egg Bowl vs. Ole Miss.

On Deck: Ohio State, Baylor and TCU

@AuburnElvis

Rivalry Week is here! Throw out all the records (that work against whatever teams you’re pulling for) and get ready for the chaos.

1. Oregon – Ducks never say die.
2. Bama – Sure, whatever.
3. TCU – If Baylor beats Texas Tech soundly, I’ll be willing to move the Bears over TCU b/c of their head-to-head… but I won’t feel good about it.
4. FSU – Will Muschamp… if ever there was a time for your neurotic, bi-polar, Boom-tastic powers to produce a win Florida has no business getting on their own, it’s now. Vaya con Dios.

@HawkeyeElvis

Well, it looks like I picked the wrong week to give up drinking. Between a close basketball loss on Friday to a ranked team and an even closer football on Saturday to a ranked team, Hawkeye Elvis has a whole Mess of Blues.My Top 4 with two weeks to go:

1. Oregon – Calmly, methodically moving its way through the remainder of its schedule. Kind of like a serial killer.
2. Alabama – Dear Karmic Football Gods/Deliverers of Delicious Irony, how about an improbably Auburn victory on Saturday. It doesn’t have to be as dramatic as last year, but that would be kinda neat.
3. Florida State – Now the Gators beating the Seminoles this week, THAT would be hilarious.
4. Mississippi State – Out goes the Big 12. Clanga’s 5-point loss at Alabama is the best of the 1-lossers.

On deck: Ohio State (how in the blue hell did they lose to Virginia Tech?), TCU (wakes up in a cold sweat at night recalling their loss to Baylor), Baylor (used up all its luck in coming back to beat TCU, none left for the WV loss).

@IrishElvis

1. Florida State – I’m curious if there’s *anything* Jameis Winston could do at this point to be declared ineligible. I mean, he’s running out of shenanigans to pull.
2. Oregon – Prime time road game. Easy way to lose national respect…or solidify your playoff spot.
3. TCU – Will Texas make a late-season surge under Charlie Strong? Will TCU keep their offense in overdrive? Will I escape the clutches of tryptophan to watch this game?
4. Alabama – Methinks the Dark Lord Saban will not leave anything to chance in this year’s Iron Bowl, but my allegiance is with Auburn Elvis.

First 3 out: Ohio State, Mississippi State, Baylor.

The TCB Poll went 3-for-4 last week in advance of the Playoff Committee rankings, with MSU making the Committee’s cut over the Elvii’s pick of TCU.

The post TCB Poll: Week 13 Reactions appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Image courtesy @AuburnElvis

Playoff Rankings: Week 12

Each week, the T.C.B. Poll is an aggregate of all our inputs. Scroll down to see individual selections and opinions. Images courtesy The Helmet Project.

Rank	Team		Record	Weekly Change
1		Florida State	10-0	+1
2		Oregon	9-1	+1
3		Alabama	9-1	+2
4		Texas Christian	9-1	—

Also receiving votes: Ohio State, Mississippi State, Baylor.

TCB Committee Member Comments

@TheLSUElvis

1. Florida State – The defending national champs are the only unbeaten among the big conferences. That should place them at the top.
2. Alabama – Nick Saban will have this team prepared to play in the playoffs
3. Oregon – I want to see the Ducks and The Tide go head to head in the first playoff game
4. Mississippi State – Tough loss on the road to Alabama. They win out then they should have a shot to play for the title in the playoffs.

On Deck: Ohio State, Baylor and TCU.

@AuburnElvis

Every week, just more disappointment and heartbreak. The good guys keep losing and the bad guys keep winning. It’s enough to make a football Elvis turn to booze and pills. Thankfully, we have this poll as a reason to get up Monday mornings and put on the ol’ jumpsuit.

1. Oregon – Kings of the bye week, the Ducks got to sit back and watch the other contenders lose or struggle.
2. Alabama – If they can beat a reeling Auburn team at home in 2 weeks, they’ll win the SEC West, and likely advance into the playoffs after winning the SEC Championship.
3. FSU – Pulled off another characteristic escape against what should be an inferior opponent. Boston College, Florida, and the ACC Coastal Champion are all that stand between this team and the playoffs.
4. TCU – Struggled at Kansas, but it doesn’t matter. Unless Baylor beats OK State and Kansas State, the close Baylor head-to-head result doesn’t sway me.

5, 6, & 7 – Mississippi State, Ohio State, Baylor. The Bulldogs are out unless TCU continues to struggle and Baylor loses. Same situation for the Buckeyes, PLUS Mississippi State has to lose to Ole Miss. If Baylor wins out, I expect they’ll jump into TCU’s spot.

@HawkeyeElvis

I truly feel for my Elvii brethren this week. But that’s why we have another game this week to chase out those demons from the last. Bye-bye Clanga from my Top 4. Out of respect for Auburn Elvis, I will keep Bama out of the top spot.

1. Florida State – One of these days, they will run into a team that keeps a double-digit lead throughout the game.
2. Alabama – Gets a bye week against Western Carolina.
3. Oregon – Wisely chose not to play this week. The Pac-12 title is there for the taking.
4. Baylor – Yep. I’m sticking with the Bears. They own the head-to-head against TCU and they didn’t almost lose to Kansas.

On deck: Ohio State, TCU, Mississippi State.

Here we all thought there would be a fight over 1-loss teams. There could be a BIG fight over 2-loss teams in a couple of weeks.

@IrishElvis

1. Florida State – adios, MSU. Sole undefeated team needs the top spot, no matter how much I loathe their off-field activity or their first half boredom.
2. Oregon – bumps up a spot. Don’t lose focus, Quacks.
3. TCU – I’ll reward you for hanging on against an inferior team this week, if only because a 1st round spread offense playoff on New Year’s Day vs. 2-seed Oregon would be incredible to watch
4. Alabama – toughest schedule to date, so they schedule a D-II opponent (note: it’s never the right time to schedule a D-II opponent). They have a good number of weapons in their arsenal, but they’ll need to avoid a loss in the coming weeks.

First 3 out: Ohio State, Mississippi State, Baylor.

The TCB Poll nailed all 4 teams again last week in advance of the Playoff Committee rankings, transposing only FSU & Oregon. With all the shuffling this week, it will be interesting to see what the Committee presents.

The post TCB Poll: Week 12 Reactions appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Via @CFBPlayof

I mentioned on Monday that I would write a rebuttal to Bayou’s hypothesis that playing Navy close would cost us playoff positioning. Thankfully, the College Football Playoff Committee saved me from loads of writing by making the argument for me by keeping the Fighting Irish ranked at #10.

As I said during the ND Fan Radio Navy post game show, I felt that the narrow win against Navy would mean about as much to the committee as the blowout win against Rice did: nothing.

Last week, I put forward my own hypothesis that the two biggest factors the committee used in ranking teams were the number of losses and the amount of quality wins against the top 25. The committee didn’t appear to care about margin of victory, the quality of opponent faced, or how “good” a loss was unless they were trying to break a tie between two teams.

And that logic once again held this week. With that in mind, I’ve managed to pull out a few more nuggets of knowledge from this week’s rankings. I have updated the spreadsheet from last week and added a new tab for this weeks rankings and a breakdown of the top 25, their opponents, and all their wins and losses (and included the two teams dropped out this week as a bonus!).

No Team That Won Dropped in the Rankings

If you take one thing away from this post, it should be this point. If a team in the top 25 won they either rose in the rankings or they didn’t move. The six teams that dropped in the rankings all lost.

Often times, pollsters seem to consider some wins as “bad” and thus punish a team for winning a football game. That has never really made much sense to me and I’m glad to see the committee bucking that trend. Doubly so because the committee clearly used a similar logic for a “good” loss, a judgment call that certainly affected Notre Dame’s initial ranking.

The message from the committee is quite clear: win your games (unless you have a laughable schedule like Marshall, in which case, sorry, please try again).

Margin of Victory Doesn’t Matter Except When It Does

Notre Dame, nor any other team like Auburn or TCU, were punished for winning a close game. Likewise, we have also seen that huge blowout wins (Alabama over Texas A&M) or blowout loses (Arizona State losing to UCLA) don’t really seem to make a difference in the rankings. Despite that, committee chair, Jeff Long, had this to say about Notre Dame and Arizona State:

Hmm. Long: ASU, ND have common opponent in Stanford. ASU moved ahead because of more convincing win.

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) November 5, 2014

So perhaps, more accurately, we should say that MOV only matters in a tie-breaker type discussion.

This logic though is somewhat head-scratching if you apply the same logic to a Notre Dame/Michigan State comparison and their common opponent, Michigan. I suppose the only logic there though is that Michigan State had the quality win so they initially put Sparty over ND. Since Michigan State didn’t lose this week, the committee didn’t want to then drop them down a spot.

So really, it appears the question the committee was trying to answer here was just how far should they allow Arizona State to rise and a debate arose between either #9 or #10, leading to the MOV comparison with Notre Dame. But hey, this works great for the Irish as not only do they have a chance for a quality win, but a win against a team ranked above them, meaning that a potential Arizona State loss will hopefully keep them well within the top 25.

Is the SEC Still Awesome?

I’ll be interested to see this week’s update to the theory. Signs may still point to yes. In each loss grouping, an SEC team sits a top of each pack–save for one. There is one lone three loss team in the top 25, West Virginia, hailing from the Big XII.

Currently, each top SEC team is benefiting from the circular logic that committee uses in terms of quality wins, but, as a said last week, at least the committee is consistent in their logic. Further, both SEC teams in the top 25 took significant drops, including Ole Miss whose heartbreaking loss to #3 Auburn, due to a freak injury no less, received no mercy from the committee.

In my mind, the bias is still there, but is much more tolerable. These rankings paint the SEC as the top conference in college football, which is hard to argue. However, that doesn’t give an SEC team any luxury to not be punished quite heavily for a loss.

In fact, I dare say this could lead to a possible nightmare scenario. There does exist a potential doomsday possibility that the SEC emerges with zero one-loss teams. Will the committee change their logic then or will they remain consistent and, I can’t believe I’m saying this, actually shut the SEC out of the playoff picture?

Notre Dame Can Join the Playoff Debate in Earnest After This Saturday

That is, if the Irish win.

Without any quality wins on their resume, any debate about how strong the ND schedule should have been or how it is still stronger than other teams that play FCS teams, is pointless. All other teams above us still have at least one quality win and five of the teams in the top ten have two quality wins.

A win against Arizona State changes all of that. With a top 25 win, the Irish and Brian Kelly can start making debates and politicking in earnest. With two games within the top ten (#6 TCU/#7 Kansas State & #9 Arizona State/#10 Notre Dame), another top ten team, #5 Alabama, playing #16 LSU, and #8 Michigan State taking on #14 Ohio State, the Irish have a huge opportunity to rise up the rankings.

The path to the playoff is still narrow, but it’s there.

The post Notre Dame Remains #10; What We Learned from the College Football Playoff Committee appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

They succeeded.

Today, the Navy calls him the guy that embarrasses them every year*. The Fighting Irish call him….

TOP QB

*2007, 2009, and 2010 didn’t exist…why the hell is everybody acting like they did?

—————————

Tommy Rees packs up his locker for the last time after the 2013 season. The road was long and imperfect, but he did what he came to South Bend to do. As he reflected on his Irish football career coming to end, Brian Kelly enters the room.

Kelly: [Grinning ear-to-ear with a cigar in his mouth] How’s it feel to be on the front page of every newspaper in the English-speaking world? Even though Michigan State denies that you cost them the title, congratulations! They gave you your choice of duty, son. Anything, anywhere. Do you believe that shit? Where do you think you wanna go?

Rees: I thought of being a coach, sir.

Kelly: TOP QB?!

Rees: Yes, sir.

Kelly: [With a knowing smile] God help us.

—————————

Rees arrives at an undisclosed location in San Diego, California. He figured that the TOP QB coaching would take place in South Bend as it always had, but orders are orders and he knew better than to question them. As he settled in to his office, he hears a knock on the door…

Voice from outside: Hey, it’s Jester.

Rees: [Whispers to himself] So we’re still doing this call sign thing, huh? [Louder and to the door] Come in.

Evan “Jester” Sharpley enters through the door.

Rees: What are you doing here?! I thought you were running training camps out in Indiana?

Sharpley: Not today, hotshot. I have additional orders. [Sharpley tosses an envelope labeled “CLASSIFIED” on Rees’ desk] We have a new recruit to get ready and fast. The 2014 season is approaching and we don’t have a lot of time.

Rees opens the letter that reveals a piece of paper that simply says “Cougar is back”. Rees has a confused look on his face.

Sharpley: Something a matter, Maverick?

Rees: Seriously, why are we still using call signs?! I swear, Coach Kelly goes on one Top Gun binge after losing to Navy in 2010 and everything just got weird. Who the hell is Cougar?

Sharpley: Have you already forgotten so soon? [Leans in to whisper] It’s Golson, Mav. Golson.

Rees: Why are you whispering like it’s top secret? That’s not how call signs work–you know what, forget it… So that’s why we are all the way out in San De–

Sharpley: AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION, MAVERICK!

Rees: Jesus, there’s an ESPN truck right outside George Whitfield’s camp, everyone knows where Golson is right now.

Sharpley: [Getting angry] You mean, Guru, Mav.

Rees: [While facepalming] Fine…why are we out here in this classified location to train Cougar while Guru has been doing just that for the entire year.

Sharpley: He’s missing on crucial element before he’s ready to return to South Bend.

Rees: And that is?

Sharpley: Shirtless. Volleyball. Montage.

—————————

The 2014 season has just passed the midway point after a tough loss to Florida State. Everyone has returned to South Bend as the bye week closes and Rees notices Everett Golson has been staring at something on his computer for the past hour and Rees notices he has broken into that same cold sweat that he did right before Rees was bumped up the depth chart.

Rees: Everett, what’s wrong? What are you watching?

Golson turns his computer around and presses play.

Rees: [snickering] Well, I guess those Middies have to win something. Missed a trolling opportunity though. Not a single mention of cut blo–[notices Golson is terrified]–wait, what’s wrong? What’s on your mind?

Golson: My team, sir. I let them down the other week and I just got back here…I’m so scared…

Rees: Come on, we’ve seen things like this before–

Golson: Not like this, sir. Not all wiped out by a flag. I needed to make one more play and I couldn’t. I’m holding on to tight…I’ve lost the edge.

Rees: Lost the edge?! Give me a break. You don’t convert 4th and freakin’ 18 without an edge, much less a 4th and goal that was executed so well the refs were convinced something was wrong. It happens.

Golson: But…that flag…

Rees: Look, you are in the top 1% of all quarterbacks in college football. The elite. The best of the best. Notre Dame will make you better. You’ll be in practice every day, attend classes in between, and have your performance evaluated on the field every Saturday. Now in every game, you’re going to meet a different challenge. Every game will be much more difficult. ND will push your game right to the edge of the envelope. Each game will be faster than you’ve ever played before–and more dangerous. Now, we can’t control all the flags here, Everett. The referees do that. We simply go out and play the game.

Golson appears to have calmed and nods his head in agreement. Rees starts to walk out of the room, but pauses, and turns back for Golson.

Rees: Remember, Everett, there’s no points for second place.

The Roundup

And this is one of the reasons why I delay the Roundup now. Because big stories like Dave Brandon resigning have a habit of breaking after I hit “publish”.

Now this is a throwback. Well done, Aggies.

Want to know how many points TCU scored last week? They burned through all their fireworks against Texas Tech. For the season.

If you ever think your CFB life can’t be any worse, just remember, you could always be a Pitt fan.

If that doesn’t convince you, try imagining being on the wrong end of some of these plays.

More dominoes are falling in college athletic reform. The Pac 12 is next up by passing quite a few very beneficial changes.

Hatin’ Ass Spurrier refuses to take a bye. And did he ever bring it this week.

And now, your moments of Nix… Yes, moments, because I’m not even going to try and decide between these two:

Brian Kelly on Tyrone Willingham: "He loves to play golf." Kelly did note he beat Willingham when they played together

— Irish Sports Daily (@ISDUpdate) October 30, 2014

Hands down my bros win best costume @DaVarisDaniels and @K_Moore8 pic.twitter.com/RXO9Miht5U

— Jarron Jones (@Who_GotJones94) October 31, 2014

The Booze

This week, I have two variations of the same cocktail. One appears to be on the sweeter side and the other uses bourbon. Chose your weapon wisely:

Shipwreck (sweeter variation)

• Fill a shaker with ice and the following:
  • 1/2 oz Midori
  • 1/2 oz Malibu Rum
  • 2 oz Orange Juice
  • 2 oz Pineapple Juice
• Mix and strain into a highball glass
• Top with 1/2 oz Grenadine

Shipwreck (bourbon variation)

• Fill shaker with ice and the following:
  • 1 oz Bourbon
  • 1 oz Aged Rum
  • 3/4 oz lime juice
  • 1/2 oz simple syrup
• Mix and strain into highball glass
• Garnish with mint leaves and 3-4 dashes of Angostura bitters

The post Friday Roundup: The “Top QB 2014” Edition appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

We don’t know what exactly the 12-person committee will use as criteria for which teams make the final cut. We don’t know if they’ll take injuries or suspensions into account. We don’t know how they’ll weigh conference championships. We don’t know if they’ll show compassion for a team that lost in the final seconds of an epic top five show down because of a controversial offensive penalty that negated a game-winning score. We don’t know anything, really.

Several committee members have noted that they watch upwards of fifty teams a week. Not just the top teams, but also the teams that the top teams play, specifically the ones that will be considered common denominators. I imagine, and this is just me, that teams that cross conference lines such as Clemson, South Carolina, or Arizona State will be major influences even if they don’t have realistic chances to make the Football Four themselves.

I broke down the top teams into three tiers. The top tier are the current “guarantees” if there are such a thing at this point. The second tier will be the teams fighting for the last one or two spots. The third tier are the teams that need some help outside of their own schedule.

Tier One: 

• Mississippi State – The widely-considered top team in the nation has by far the best resume. They have wins against three top ten teams (at the time of kickoff) and they’ve been one of the most consistent and dominant teams in all of their wins (their only single-digit winning margin was on the road against LSU).
• Ole Miss – While they don’t have as many top wins as their magnolia state brethren, they did knock of Alabama, skyrocketing them into the top three. the rest of their wins have been just as dominant as Mississippi State, but not against quite as high of talent thus far.
• Florida State – If the Seminoles were a Friends episode, it would be called “The one that didn’t die”. This team has found ways to eke out wins when it shouldn’t have. If they do fall at some point, the voters will likely make them pay for it.

For now, these teams are in. Unfortunately for the two Mississippi teams, the Egg Bowl could be the first of potentially four straight playoff games for the winner. If both teams win out, the Egg Bowl decides the SEC West winner, who will then have to play in the SEC Championship, then into the NCAA playoffs. Only one of these teams will get in. I feel like any team that gets a loss in the last two weeks of the season will be toast. That’s just how voters remember things.

Florida State will likely win out. The ACC is terrible and FSU has already faced the hardest teams on their schedule. So barring some incredible upset that would likely make the entire nation celebrate, we have to assume the Seminoles are going to be in the playoffs.

Tier Two:

I saved this one for last because it is the deepest and in the most flux. If you’re a Notre Dame fan, these are the teams we need to watch closely if we hope to get back into the top four. We don’t know what’s going to happen in the top tier, but likely two out of those three teams are going to be in the playoffs. That leaves just two more spots open. At this point, it’s going to be hard to see an outcome where two SEC teams don’t go. The SEC West is just too incredibly deep, and as we’ll see shortly we can’t count out Georgia out of the East either.

• Alabama – Of all the one-loss teams in the SEC West, Bama has the best shot of stealing the conference. A win over Mississippi State throws the entire nation into a mess, let alone the division.
• Auburn – Similar to Alabama, Auburn has plenty of chances to win out against big teams and still take the division. No matter what, the Iron Bowl likely decides which team gets eliminated.
• Oregon – The Ducks’ big problem was originally that Michigan State looked like not such a big win, but now it’s looking a lot better. Now their problem lies in the schedule. With no big games remaining until the conference championship, it’s hard for Oregon to impress anyone on the committee.
• Notre Dame – Some people are saying Notre Dame’s loss almost helped the Irish as much as a win at least in perception of if they belong with the big boys. Notre Dame cannot win a conference championship, but their schedule allows them not to have to. A couple of “big enough” games are still ahead of them, as well.
• Michigan State – Right now, they’re a little on the outside looking in, but defeating Ohio State in two weeks will put them squarely into the mix. After that, the path smooths out and even the B1G Championship will be very gettable.
• Georgia – If there’s any team that has been overlooked this year, it might be Georgia. With one more big game against Auburn coming up and a potential trip to the SEC Championship game, the Bulldogs are far from dead this season.

The biggest question out of this tier will be what happens in the SEC West. There’s a scenario where Ole Miss beats Alabama who beats Mississippi State who beats Ole Miss. I don’t even know who wins the division at that point, let alone gets into the playoffs. Or how about Auburn beats Ole Miss who beats Mississippi State who already beat Auburn? Could there be a four-way tie? Only time will tell and it’ll be huge for the outside one-loss teams hoping to get a chance at the championship.

Tier Three:

• TCU/Kansas State/Baylor – These teams must win out. The Big 12 just isn’t strong enough right now to guarantee a one-loss champion getting into the playoffs. Kansas State may have the best chance as they close the season with games against not only TCU and Baylor but also West Virginia. Running that table would go a long way to bumping their resume.
• Nebraska/Ohio State – Both of these teams will need to win the B1G championship to have a shot. That chance is greater for OSU as they have a huge game against Michigan State looming.
• Arizona State/Arizona – The loss to UCLA is killing them right now as the Bruins have dropped in the rankings. Still, with wins over USC, Stanford and a game against Notre Dame later on, it could give them a chance to steal the PAC 12 South and play Oregon as a play-in game. Arizona has a huge win against Oregon, but will have to beat ASU to get a rematch against the Ducks. It’ll be hard to beat that team twice.

It’s going to be hard for any of these teams to make the playoffs, there’s just too much up in the air at this point on their schedules. The Big 12 teams have beaten each other up just enough to knock them all out. The B1G teams need Michigan State to drop out. The Arizona teams have mediocre losses on their record already, have to play each other still, and THEN still have to likely play Oregon. Are these teams out of it? Not even close. But it’s a steep hill in front of them.

My gut tells me that if the remaining season is on short supply of surprises, the last spot will come down to Notre Dame and Michigan State. We’re going to see exactly what the committee weighs heavily and which things aren’t as important. Of all the seasons these two teams could have picked to not play each other, it looks like it happened when both teams needed the game the most. One could be a conference champion whose only loss is on the road to a top five team. One could be a cross-country conqueror whose only loss is on the road to a top five team.

It’s hard to compare Notre Dame to other teams around the country. There’s no conference championship to play for, which could end up being the death blow to a 2014 championship run. While Notre Dame sits at 11-1 after a win on the road to USC, the other teams will all be playing nationally televised all-or-nothing games. Will it be Georgia versus Mississippi State? Whoever is in this game, the winner is in. Florida State will likely win the ACC with an unblemished record. They’re in.

That leaves two spots. There is a strong chance that two SEC teams finishes the season at 11-1 and DOESN’T make the championship game, despite having defeated at least one of the teams in that game. How can you punish a team from the SEC West with an 11-1 record? You can’t. They’re in, too.

That leaves one final spot.

Notre Dame. Michigan State. Oregon.

Who gets in? Does the head-to-head victory for Oregon over Michigan State knock out the Spartans? Oregon and Michigan State will likely both win conferences, does that end the season for the Irish? Notre Dame will have played the hardest schedule. Does that cook the Ducks?

Even more importantly, will any of that even matter?

If college football has taught us anything, it’s that there will always be more surprises. We know there will be teams in the top ten that will receive their first or second loss this season. That’s a guarantee. But we also know that a couple more will likely be upset. Who takes that fall? Will Notre Dame lose to Arizona State? Does Oregon stumble against Stanford? Does Kentucky surprise a big name? Does LSU? Can Michigan ruin the Spartans season?

Anything can and will happen in the NCAA. We’ve already had a week where five top ten teams lost. If only one top ten team loses a week from now until December, we will have a drastically different idea of what a playoff team might look like. The key? Don’t be one of those teams that lose. If Notre Dame can avoid that fate, they’ll be getting good news about January.

The post Notre Dame Still Squarely in Playoff Picture appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Fumbles

Everett Golson, 1st Quarter
Everett Golson, 3rd Quarter

Everett’s first fumble to start the game, while terrible and costly, could be mostly forgiven. You could certainly argue that Golson should have better pocket presence and not step directly into a death trap. Still, that was not nearly as bad as Golson coughing the ball up late in the 3rd quarter for a failure to tuck and protect the ball.

NBC mentioned that Golson worked on ball security, but perhaps it should shift to learning when to slide? I’d rather Golson sacrifice a couple of yards than trying to plunge forward and watching an opponent grab the ball. Plus, I’m not too particularly fond of Golson taking a whole bunch of hits every game.

Either way, this needs to be fixed and quickly. That’s three games in a row and I’m starting to become very concerned.

Ill-Advised Passes

Golson near pick six, 2nd Drive
Golson throws a pick six, 3rd Drive

Simply put, Golson was lucky that he didn’t give up two pick sixes in this game. His first ill-advised pass was jumped and, had it not been an absolute bullet that the Tar Heel DB failed to handle, it probably would’ve been. On both that pass and the pick six, Golson forced a pass to a receiver that clearly wasn’t open.

It’s almost as if Golson believes that his arm is strong enough to beat the defender that is taking the route away. Or perhaps Golson just can’t help but try to force things so early in a game.

Either way, those were two very easy reads that I think everyone, Brian Kelly included, expects Golson to make.

Plays You May Have Forgotten

Sheldon Day nearly gets an INT, 1st Quarter
Notre Dame nearly has a goal line stand, 2nd Quarter

Sure, we remember that the Irish gave away loads of points off of turnovers, but these two plays could have caused a serious scoring swing. Sheldon Day made an incredible read on a screen play and completely jumped the route (and Issac Rochell should get a nod for almost getting a sack before the play could get set up). He couldn’t have been in better position as he did everything right but catch the ball.

Near the end of the first half, North Carolina scored another touchdown, but that was practically a gift from the ACC referees. On 3rd and goal, the Irish were flagged for defensive pass interference on a clearly uncatchable ball. The Irish forced the Tar Heels to another 3rd and goal. Rochell had Marquis Williams dead to rights on his scramble for a TD, but just happened to roll over Rochell perfectly on his way down toward the endzone and away from Max Redfield who was charging in for the finishing touch.

Had those plays gone a different way, we could very well be talking about a very different score this week.

Schools from Mississippi

If you had told me in the preseaon that the top five would include both Mississippi schools, I would have thought you crazy. Yet, here we are.

Mississippi State dispatched a turnover-prone Auburn and leapfrogged Florida State to take the #1 spot in both polls. After a huge upset against Alabama, Ole Miss followed up by soundly defeating Texas A&M at home.

I can’t help but wonder how this will affect the SEC Is Awesome Theory this week.

Texas Heart-breakers

Oklahoma fends off a Texas comeback to win 31-26
TCU blows a 21 point lead to Baylor, losing 58-61

The Red River Rivalry, no matter how lopsided it may have seemed on paper the past two years, managed to be fantastic once again. Texas came on late to give a reeling Oklahoma a scare in the old Cotton Bowl. TCU, who beat Oklahoma last week in Ft. Worth, traveled down to Waco and appeared to have Baylor dead to rights.

TCU’s only problem was that Baylor remembered that they can score points by the boat load and delivered one of the most incredible comeback wins that I’ve ever seen.

Later that evening, I was out and about in downtown Ft. Worth. Usually, you will see quite a few TCU kids enjoying a night out, having a blast around Sundance Square. I saw none that evening and a bartender told the couple we were meeting up with to avoid one particular bar because it was full of sad, angry, and drunk TCU fans. Yikes.

Polling Absurdities

Michigan State
Oklahoma

In both the coaches’ and AP polls, Michigan State is ranked above Oregon and Oklahoma is ranked above TCU. Both teams lost to the teams they now find themselves ranked above despite the fact that they all have one loss. I am trying to figure out what kind of logic multiple people used to justify such a ranking.

Seriously, the polls are so useless right now. What a joke. I’m almost surprised that a one-loss Alabama team isn’t ranked above Notre Dame.

The post CFB Week 7: A Tale of Two… appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

This is quite a milestone for us, and considering that we aren’t connected to a blogging network, have struggled through growing pains like server moves, redesigns, and crashes, this is simply awesome — especially considering we have a full month to go in 2012!

I would like to personally thank all of our staff for all of their hard work on the blog and behind the scenes. This doesn’t happen without their dedication.

I would also like to thank anyone that has ever linked us, shared our work, or suggested to people that they come drop on by. Of course huge thanks are in order to NDNation, One Foot Down, The Subway Domer, and Inside the Irish for consistently linking our work through their sites and Twitter. A special thanks to the Strong and True blog as well for coming into the blogging game in all their official glory and showing us some link love as well.

Of course, there are loads of others that have shared our work, and they are too numerous to name. Trust me, it’s very appreciated.

And finally, a thanks to the Loyal Readers that continue to come here every day to read our work and talk Irish football with us. I can’t thank all of y’all enough. It’s just going to keep on getting better from here!

The Roundup

The coaching carousel has started. One Foot Down has a good overview to get you caught up.

Happy trails, Monte Kiffin. I have a feeling USC fans are wishing a different Kiffin is leaving though.

There is one other game of musical chairs going on. The ACC needed a replacement for Maryland and they found one in the Cards.

Law & Order: Teabagging. Remember that Alabama idiot that put his junk on the face of a passed out LSU fan? Well, he’s about to enjoy two years of prison. Want a do-over there, buddy?

You realize there is going to be a drug test right? Here’s a suggestion, Honey Badger, lay off the weed so you don’t screw this up too.

We can never have too many #HEISMANTI posts. Here’s a fantastic (and long) piece that John Walters put together for UND.com.

Put These Games on Your Radar

#2 Alabama vs #3 Georgia, SEC Championship, 4:00pm EST, CBS -Pretty simple, future scouting of ND’s future opponent. Should be a great one.

#11 Oklahoma @ TCU, 12pm EST, ESPN/WatchESPN – Should be a good start to the day and if OU wins, they could win the Big XII title if…

#18 Texas @ #6 Kansas State, 8:00pm EST, ABC – …Texas manages to pull this game off.

And a special, FRIDAY game:

#21 Northern Illinois vs #17 Kent State, MAC Championship, 7:00pm EST, ESPN/WatchESPN – Thought I was going for the Pac 12 Championship didn’t you? Nah, we’ve seen that game already, settle in for some MACtion and possible BCS hilarity. If Kent State wins, they might actually find their way into a BCS game as well.

Predictions

Closest to the Pin – Week 12

Well, the regular season is over and Twibby takes the last win coming scarily close with his 22-13 prediction. Only one more to make, but until January, here are your standings:

Bayou likely has the title in hand; however, an exact prediction by either Biscuit or Twibby will mean a tie for first.

The Beer

I know Biscuit hates when I tap into my Texas roots and suggest a Shiner beer, but I’m going to do it anyway.

With Winter now upon us, the ever so delicious Shiner Cheer is available once again. If you can get this, I cannot recommend it enough:

This brew is easily my favorite Shiner seasonal. I’m usually not a fan of sweet brews, but this is an exception. Peaches and roasted pecans are the major players here and they are delicious.

Plus, this is definitely a season full of cheer: a shot at the title and a basketball team off to a great start.

P.S. If you are a current student right now, I hate you so much, you lucky bastards.

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