Notre Dame's Opponents: Win / Loss Records

At the beginning of this football season -- many, if not every -- Notre Dame fan thought we had an "easy" schedule...  Well, nothing could have been further from the truth.  Ready for two FUN FACTS you can share with your pals -- whose favorite school might be playing in a BCS Championship Bowl?  Here goes:

• Fun Fact #1:  Notre Dame played more bowl eligible teams this year -- than any college football team in America.  10 of Notre Dame's 12 opponents are bowl eligible -- the only teams that were not;  Purdue (only 4 wins) and USC (NCAA probation), who's won seven games going into Saturday's game against UCLA.
• Fun Fact #2:  Notre Dame's opponents have won more games than any other team's opponents in FBS.  Notre Dame's opponents have an overall Win/Loss record of:  92-48

Here's how the top 10 Teams in the BCS Rankings stack up against Notre Dame in these two aforementioned categories:

1. Auburn:  Played 8 bowl eligible teams this year -- Opponents Win/Loss:  83-60
2. Oregon:  Played 3 bowl eligible teams this year -- Opponents Win/Loss:  60-77
3. TCU:  Played 6 bowl eligible teams this year -- Opponents Win/Loss:  65-77
4. Stanford:  Played 3 bowl eligible teams this year -- Opponents Win/Loss:  67-69
5. Wisconsin:  Played 5 bowl eligible teams this year -- Opponents Win/Loss:  65-77
6. Ohio State:  Played 7 bowl eligible teams this year -- Opponents Win/Loss:  72-72
7. Arkansas:  Played 8 bowl eligible teams this year -- Opponents Win/Loss:  83-58
8. Michigan State:  Played 8 bowl eligible teams this year -- Opponents Win/Loss:  72-70
9. Oklahoma:  Played 7 bowl eligible teams this year -- Opponents Win/Loss:  83-58
10. LSU:  Played 9 bowl eligible teams this year -- Opponents Win/Loss:  84-58

Notre Dame & South Bend: National Award!

It was announced today that the National League of Cities 2010 Gold Award for Municipal Excellence will go to South Bend, IN for the Northeast Neighborhood Revitalization program (a joint effort between the University of Notre Dame and South Bend) to redevelop the area near the Notre Dame campus.  The program has led to numerous new developments across the city, including the Eddy Street Commons, a mixed-use development area; a new facility for the Indiana University School of Medicine at South Bend; and Innovation Park at Notre Dame, a state-certified technology park.  South Bend is just one of four cities in the country to receive the Gold Award -- the other three are:

• New York City
• Kingsport, TN
• Newport News, VA

Bowl Game Options For Notre Dame...

With Notre Dame's win over USC -- giving them a final record of 7 wins and 5 losses the Irish are still not a "given" to any of the Bowl Games potentially available to them.  Believe it or not -- Notre Dame's bowl destination could be riding on the outcomes of the Washington vs. Washington State game and the Oregon vs. Oregon State games this week.  Here's why:

1. Notre Dame has only one deal in place with a Bowl Game and that's the Champs Bowl.  The Champs Bowl has the option of selecting the Irish over a Big East team -- once, every four years.  
2. Beyond that deal -- the Irish are left to choose from any Bowl Game that doesn't have "qualifiers" from its conference affiliations.  This year -- the most options reside with the PAC 10 Conference -- where they have only 3 qualifiers (Oregon, Stanford and Arizona) for the six Bowl Games they have deals in place with.  Oregon and Stanford are locks for BCS Championship Bowl Games (one of the two will end up in the Rose Bowl) -- meaning the PAC 10 has one team currently qualified for their five other Bowl deals:  Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl, Valero Alamo Bowl, Hyundai Sun Bowl, MAACO Las Vegas Bowl and the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl.

The feeling by a few -- is Notre Dame will pass on the Champs Bowl this year -- "keeping this game in their back pocket" as an option for next year, because of all of the potential openings in the PAC 10 Bowl Games this year.  Please note -- there are conflicting reports as to whether Notre Dame could turn down a Champs Bowl invitation...

So, if we assume this to be true -- here's the remaining bowl options for the Irish.  Please note:  I've already taken the Valero Alamo Bowl out of play for Notre Dame -- most expect them to select the third place team in the PAC 10 Arizona.  Here's what's potentially left for the Irish -- depending on whether Oregon State and Washington become bowl eligible this weekend:

• Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl -- December 30th -- San Diego, CA
• Hyundai Sun Bowl -- December 31st -- El Paso, TX 
• MAACO Las Vegas Bowl -- December 22nd -- Las Vegas, NV
• Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl -- January 9th -- San Francisco, CA

Thus -- with all this said, if ND decides to hold off on the Champs Bowl this year (where they would more than likely play North Carolina State or Maryland) -- don't expect to hear ND's bowl destination until Sunday at the earliest. If Washington wins this Saturday -- as expected -- they will surely end up in San Diego for the Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl.  Which would leave the potential for a Notre Dame vs. Miami, FL game in El Paso at the Hyundai Sun Bowl.

Muffet's Irish Win WBCA Tournament Title!

The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame's women's basketball team won the WBCA Women's Classic Basketball Tournament yesterday with a convincing 85-54 win over Butler in the championship game.  The Irish were led by Natalie Novosel (pictured) who scored a game high 20 points and was named the Tournament MVP!  Natalie was joined on the All Tournament team by her teammates; Devereaux Peters and Erica Solomon.  This was the 14th regular season tournament title win for the Notre Dame Women's Basketball program!  Here's a link to the South Bend Tribune story:

LINK:  IRISH WIN WBCA TOURNAMENT!

Wolfard '02 and Haney Survive Another Week!

Notre Dame alum, Thomas Wolfard '02 and his girlfriend Jill Haney are competing in CBS's The Amazing Race -- and competing well!  The two were in Hong Kong this week -- in this globe trotting adventure race.  And, if not for problems tracking down a taxi at the very end of the race -- they would have racked up another win -- as they seek the million dollar prize that goes to the winners!  Their second place finish ensured them they would move on to the next race -- only to learn that all four remaining teams advanced after the last place team wasn't eliminated from the competition.  The Amazing Race airs every Sunday night on CBS -- be sure to check in on "TEAM NOTRE DAME!"  Go Irish!  Here's a link to an interview of Thomas and Jill along with a replay of last night's episode:

LINK:  THOMAS AND JILL -- INTERVIEW

LINK:  THE AMAZING RACE -- HONG KONG