JIM SMALL'S NOTRE DAME GO IRISH BLOG -- www.NDGOIRISH.com -- A NOTRE DAME BLOG

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Notre Dame's P.A. Annoucner -- Doing Okay

Mike Collins '67 -- the longtime public address announcer at Notre Dame Stadium had to step away from the microphone at halftime of Saturday's game with Boston College...

Here's why...

LINK: STORY

OT: A Huge Upset in College Basketball

They are calling it the "biggest upset in college basketball in 15 years..."

Stephen F. Austin defeated #1 Duke -- breaking a 150 game home winning streak for the Blue Devils against non-conference opponents.

Fairleigh Dickinson Coach Confesses His Sin...

Fairleigh Dickinson went 0-18 to start tonight's game against Notre Dame.
Head Coach @CoachHerenda believes he may be responsible. pic.twitter.com/PseJFXPPdG
— Adam Derengowski (@AdamDerWSBT) November 27, 2019

Notre Dame vs. The Teams Ahead -- To Top 10

Well, it appears the College Football Playoff Committee must have watched just one Notre Dame game this year -- and it was on a cold, rainy night in Ann Arbor...

As we stand today -- there are six teams between us and a TOP TEN finish -- which would guarantee us a New Year's Six Bowl Game.

The odds are definitely against us -- but that's okay. Here's a "Notre Dame view" of the resumes of the teams ahead of us in the College Football Playoff Rankings -- and, what needs to happen this weekend in college football for our Fighting Irish to move up:

#10 PENN STATE:

9-2 on the season
Signature win: #13 Michigan
Losses to: #1 Ohio State and #8 Minnesota
Games against FBS opponents: 10 -- played one FCS team
Wins over FBS teams with 8+ wins: 2
No chance of losing final game --- they play Rutgers

#11 FLORIDA:

9-2 on the season
Signature win: #15 Auburn
Losses to: #2 LSU and #4 Georgia
Games against FBS opponents: 9 -- played two FCS teams
Wins over FBS teams with 8+ wins: 1
They play Florida State -- Gators favored by 17.5 points

#12 WISCONSIN:

9-2 on the season
Signature win: #13 Michigan
Losses to: Illinois and #1 Ohio State
Games against FBS opponents: 11
Wins over FBS teams with 8+ wins: 2
They play at #8 Minnesota -- Wisconsin favored by 2.5 points

#13 MICHIGAN:

9-2 on the season
Signature win: #16 Notre Dame
Losses to: #12 Wisconsin and #10 Penn State
Games against FBS opponents: 11
Wins over FBS teams with 8+ wins: 2
They play Ohio State -- Buckeyes favored by 9 points

#14 OREGON:

9-2 on the season
Signature win: #22 USC
Losses to: #15 Auburn and Arizona State
Games against FBS opponents: 10 -- played one FCS team
Wins over FBS teams with 8+ wins: 1
They play Oregon State -- Ducks favored by 19.5 points

#15 AUBURN:

8-3 on the season
Signature win: #14 Oregon
Losses to: #11 Florida, #2 LSU and #4 Georgia
Games against FBS opponents: 10 -- played on FCS team
Wins over FBS teams with 8+ wins: 1
They play #5 Alabama -- Bama favored by 3.5 points

#16 NOTRE DAME:

9-2 on the season
Signature win: #22 USC
Losses to: #4 Georgia and #13 Michigan
Games against FBS opponents: 11
Wins over FBS teams with 8+ wins: 4
We play at Stanford -- Irish favored by 14 points

MY OBSERVATION:

If you look at these aforementioned facts -- I believe Notre Dame should be ranked at the very least #14 -- ahead of Oregon and Auburn;

Oregon has a bad loss to Arizona State (6-5) and only one win over a FBS team with 8+ wins this season
Auburn has three losses -- and only one win over a FBS team with 8+ wins this season
Notre Dame has four wins over FBS teams with 8+ wins this season

Now, let's assume that Notre Dame clobbers Stanford -- and the following happens on Saturday:

Ohio State beats Michigan -- does a 10-2 Notre Dame jump the 9-3 Wolverines?
Minnesota upsets Wisconsin -- does a 10-2 Notre Dame jump the 9-3 Badgers?
Alabama beats Auburn -- does a 10-2 Notre Dame jump the 8-4 Tigers?

It looks like our highest final ranking would be #13 -- which does not look like it will get us into a New Year's Six Bowl.

Behind The Scenes Look at ND Over BC

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

David Shaw Talks Notre Dame vs. Stanford

What Though The Odds -- Notre Dame!

Monday, November 25, 2019

Stanford Week: Brian Kelly's Monday Presser

ND Student Athlete Chases Down Thief...

You're going to want to read this entire story...

LINK: THE RIGHT THING TO DO

Stanford Week: Coming Off Loss to California

A Day In The Life of Paul Moala -- ND Football

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Their First Time Experiencing Notre Dame...

Mike and Melissa Palelli made their first-ever visit to the campus of the University of Notre Dame this weekend and they made it very special...

Melissa was celebrating her 40th birthday -- so Mike (a member of the United States Coast Guard) surprised his wife with a trip to see her long-time favorite college football team, the Fighting Irish. Melissa was introduced to Notre Dame Football by her Dad -- watching games on TV back home in Massachusetts.

Saturday morning -- Mike got down on one knee and "re-proposed" to his wife, inside Notre Dame Stadium, giving Melissa a "Notre Dame Claddagh Ring" to go with her wedding ring.

Mike and Melissa -- hope to see you back at Notre Dame again, soon!

BC Coach Talks 40-7 Loss to Notre Dame...

Domer Hornung's "Heisman House" Debut!

He's the only Heisman Trophy winner in history on a "losing team" -- as his 1956 Notre Dame team went 2-8...

I doubt this will ever happen again.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Brian Kelly Talks Win Over Boston College

One Last Time for Notre Dame's Class of 2020

This is what Notre Dame Stadium looked like -- forty-seven minutes after the 40-7 win over Boston College. Members of Notre Dame's Class of 2020 were invited onto the field, along with the Fighting Irish who wore their Gold Helmets for the last time in the House That Rock Built.

Click on image above to enlarge.

Ranked Teams On Notre Dame's Schedule...

With just one game left on Notre Dame's 2019 football schedule -- I thought I'd take a look at all of the teams that have been ranked, at some point this season -- that the Fighting Irish have played...

TEAMS THAT HAVE BEEN RANKED -- SEVEN!

Here's the current Top 10 ranked teams -- and how many teams on their schedule that have been ranked:

LSU: 4 opponents; Texas, Florida, Auburn and Alabama
Ohio State: 5 opponents; Indiana, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Penn State and Michigan
Clemson: 2 opponents; Texas A&M and Wake Forest
Georgia: 4 opponents; Notre Dame, Florida, Auburn and Texas A&M
Alabama: 3 opponents; Texas A&M, LSU and Auburn
Oregon: 4 opponents; Auburn, Washington, USC and Arizona State
Utah: 4 opponents; USC, Arizona State, Washington State and Washington
Penn State: 5 opponents; Iowa, Minnesota, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio State
Oklahoma: 3 opponents; Texas, Baylor and Oklahoma State
Minnesota: 3 opponents; Penn State, Iowa and Wisconsin

So, if you hear anything about STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE, or NOTRE DAME DOESN'T PLAY IN A CONFERENCE or, NOTRE DAME DOESN'T PLAY ANYBODY -- use this ammunition.