ND Fans -- a Win, Is a Win, Is a Win, Is a Win...

Now, we'll have to wait to learn if we have enough scholarship players left on defense to take on Arizona State's "high flying" offense next week...

That was ugly. 

It doesn't matter what the College Football Playoff Committee ranks us this week -- we win our remaining four games and we will be in the College Football Playoff -- bank on it!

LINK:  GAME STATS
 

Robinson & Hunter on Brian Kelly Radio Show

Corey Robinson and Torii Hunter Jr. were guests last night on the Brian Kelly Radio Show. 

You'll want to hear Coach Kelly talk about "WE PLAY REAL GAMES..."

LINK:  BRIAN KELLY RADIO SHOW

Navy QB, FB and Head Coach Talk Notre Dame

Navy Football talks about Saturday night's game against Notre Dame...

LINK:  NAVY FOOTBALL

Coach Kelly Talks Navy One Last Time Today

Notre Dame head football coach Brian Kelly met with the media today after practice -- the last time he'll meet with the press prior to Saturday night's PRIME TIME game with the Naval Academy.

LINK:  PRESS CONFERENCE

Muffet's Fighting Irish Ranked #3 in AP Poll

Notre Dame's women's basketball team was ranked #3 in the country in today's Associated Press Preseason Poll -- not bad for a team that lost three starters -- two drafted in the first nine picks to the WNBA...

Muffet just reloads!

LINK:  TOP 25

A "Touchdown Jesus" Pumpkin Design!

My wife created this "TOUCHDOWN JESUS" pumpkin today -- pretty awesome if I say so myself!

Brian Kelly on the Jay Mohr Sports Radio Show

Notre Dame head football coach Brian Kelly was a guest yesterday on the Jay Mohr Sports Show -- you'll enjoy this interview:

LINK:  KELLY ON MOHR

Know Thy Opponent: Navy Football Video

Here's an "inside" look at the Naval Academy's football program -- as they prepared to play San Jose State last week...

LINK:  NAVY FOOTBALL

Even Bob Stoops Questions ND's #10 Ranking

You can add Oklahoma head football coach Bob Stoops to the bandwagon of those questioning why Notre Dame is ranked only 10th in the first College Football Playoff Ranking.

Here's Stoops on his radio show last night:

LINK:  STOOPS ON NOTRE DAME

Factoring Academics Into CFB Playoff Rankings

The folks at ESPN -- who rarely ever talk about graduation rates of college student-athletes -- created a formula called ESPN GRADE which factors in graduation rates when ranking teams. 

Unfortunately, it doesn't get any play...

Well, ESPN's Gregg Easterbrook penned this piece where he took the College Football Playoff Rankings and "mashed-up" the ESPN GRADE ranking system against their TOP 25.  Here's the new rankings of teams based on graduation rates:

LINK:  CFB PLAYOFF RANKING

Rolling Stone's Take: "Worldwide Cheerleader"

Notre Dame fans are going to want to read this article penned by the Rolling Stone's Jordan Burchette about ESPN's "cheerleading" for the SEC...

LINK:  THE WORLDWIDE CHEERLEADER

ND Go Irish Blog Follower Count: 950,000 !!!

At 11:23 PM ET last night a Notre Dame fan from Marble Falls, TX became ND GO IRISH BLOG unique follower #950,000.

Moving ever close to the ONE MILLION mark...

Thanks again for making the ND GO IRISH BLOG one of your Notre Dame stops on the worldwide web!

Notre Dame Ranked #10 in CFB Playoff Ranking

Well, the "first-ever" College Football Playoff Poll was released in the past 30 minutes and our Fighting Irish are ranked #10 -- with six weeks left in the college football season.

If you look at the rankings -- each of the "Power Five" Conferences have a team ranked ahead of Notre Dame -- is that a coincidence?  I don't think so. 

We're the "eighth best" one-loss team in the country?  Really???

Here's the TOP TWENTY-FIVE:

1.  Mississippi State
2.  Florida State
3.  Auburn
4.  Ole Miss
5.  Oregon
6.  Alabama
7.  TCU
8.  Michigan State
9.  Kansas State
10.  NOTRE DAME
11.  Georgia
12.  Arizona
13.  Baylor
14.  Arizona State
15.  Nebraska
16.  Ohio State
17.  Utah
18.  Oklahoma
19.  LSU
20.  West Virginia
21.  Clemson
22.  UCLA
23.  East Carolina
24.  Duke
25.  Louisville

LINK:  ESPN STORY

Theo Riddick Playing Ahead of Reggie Bush?

That is the question being floated around by the Detroit media these days...

The former Notre Dame student-athlete had his best game as a professional in London, England this past Sunday -- subbing for the often injured Reggie Bush.

Here's what they're saying about Theo Riddick:

LINK:  RIDDICK OVER BUSH

Instead of a College Football Playoff Ranking...

What if, the College Football Playoff Committee announced a list of the 28 teams today -- still in consideration for one of the FINAL FOUR SPOTS -- instead of a ranking?  Then, every week -- for the next six weeks -- they eliminate four more teams from the list.

So, on Tuesday, December 2nd -- the Committee would announce the list of EIGHT TEAMS still under consideration for the College Football Playoff -- with the Final Four announced on Sunday, December 7th.  The Committee would then announce their seeding of those four teams at that time.

So, here's my list of the 28 teams that would still be under consideration for the COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS on October 28, 2014:


ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE:

• Florida State
• Clemson
• Louisville
• Duke

BIG TEN CONFERENCE:

• Michigan State
• Ohio State 
• Nebraska
• Wisconsin

SEC CONFERENCE:

• Mississippi State
• Auburn
• Alabama
• Georgia
• Ole Miss 
• Missouri

PAC-12 CONFERENCE:

• Oregon
• Arizona State
• Utah
• UCLA
• Arizona

BIG-12 CONFERENCE:

• TCU
• Kansas State
• Baylor
• Oklahoma

 AT-LARGE:

• Notre Dame
• East Carolina
• Marshall
• Colorado State
• North Dakota State

Navy Week: Coach Kelly Press Conference

Notre Dame fans can tune-in LIVE at NOON ET today to watch Coach Kelly's press conference.  He'll be addressing another Fighting Irish PRIME TIME contest this Saturday night against the Naval Academy.

Just click on the link below:

LINK:  COACH KELLY

Enter the Notre Dame Pumpkin Carving Contest

Do you have some "mad skills" as a pumpkin carver?  Well, if you do -- now's your chance to show them off!

College Football Playoff Poll Released: 7:30 PM

The "first-ever" College Football Playoff Rankings will be released today  at 7:30 PM ET on ESPN.  This poll, which is the work of a 12 person committee, will lead to a FINAL FOUR which will be unveiled on December 7th.

Here's what a few of the media prognosticators are thinking how the Committee will rank the teams -- and what to look for this evening:

LINK:  DETROIT FREE PRESS

LINK:  BIRMINGHAM (AL) NEWS

LINK:  CBS SPORTS

LINK:  YAHOO! SPORTS

LINK:  NEW YORK POST

Photos From Notre Dame's Campus in October

Took a walk around the University of Notre Dame campus this evening and took these photos with my iPhone...

MUST SEE: Navy's "Beat Notre Dame" Video

I don't think we'll be seeing any Notre Dame students doing something like this for a game against Navy.

However, this is really good...

BRAVO!!!

LINK:  BEAT NOTRE DAME