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

Sunday, December 1, 2019

Notre Dame's Advent Series -- December 1

Chase Claypool's Ride Home to Notre Dame...

Have to admit -- this would have been the perfect way for Chase Claypool to have traveled home to Notre Dame last night after the way the Canadian star played on the Pacific Coast last night.

The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train passed through South Bend just after midnight...

Notre Dame Players Talk Win Over Stanford

Fighting Irish Bounce Back and Beat #21 USF

Muffet's Fighting Irish bounce back after losing two games in two days -- to beat the #21 ranked team in the country.

Saturday, November 30, 2019

Stanford's Shaw & Players Talk Loss to IRISH

Coach Kelly Talks 45 - 24 Win Over Stanford

Here Are All of the 10-2 Ranked Teams...

Thought we'd start the argument right now -- these are all of the 10-2 teams in college football that are ranked ahead of Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff Rankings.

I ask the question -- does Notre Dame deserve to be ranked higher than any of these teams?

#5 ALABAMA -- beat 9 FBS teams

Wins over teams currently ranked: 0
Wins over FBS teams with 8+ wins: 0
FBS opponents' wins: 65

#8 FLORIDA -- beat 8 FBS teams

Wins over teams currently ranked: 1
Wins over FBS teams with 8+ wins: 1
FBS opponents' wins: 70

#10 MINNESOTA -- beat 10 FBS teams

Wins over teams currently ranked: 1
Wins over FBS teams with 8+ wins: 2
FBS opponents' wins: 72

#12 PENN STATE -- beat 9 FBS teams

Wins over teams currently ranked: 2
Wins over FBS teams with 8+ wins: 3
FBS opponents' wins: 77

#13 WISCONSIN -- beat 10 FBS teams

Wins over teams currently ranked: 2
Wins over FBS teams with 8+ wins: 2
FBS opponents' wins: 82

#14 OREGON -- beat 9 FBS teams

Wins over teams currently ranked: 1
Wins over FBS teams with 8+ wins: 1
FBS opponents' wins: 69

#16 NOTRE DAME -- beat 10 FBS teams

Wins over teams currently ranked: 3
Wins over FBS teams with 8+ wins: 4
FBS opponents' wins: 81* -- Navy still has one game to play

Bold connotes leader in this category.

LINK: COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF RANKINGS

Stanford's "Motivational Video" For Today...

Notre Dame takes on Stanford -- today at 4 PM ET on FOX.

Go Irish!

Friday, November 29, 2019

In Muffet's Fighting Irish's 4 Losses...

Here's what has transpired in the four games that Notre Dame has lost so far this season -- as you'll see, something different each night has cost the Irish...

TENNESSEE LOSS (74 - 63)

Notre Dame shot poorly from the field: 31.4%
Tennessee shot great from the field: 47.1%
Tennessee made 42.1% of their three point attempts // Notre Dame hit 28%
Tennessee had 15 offensive rebounds to Notre Dame's 11
Tennessee took 8 more foul shots than Notre Dame

MICHIGAN STATE LOSS (72 - 69)

Notre Dame out shot MSU -- 48% to 40.3%
MSU made 8 three pointers to Notre Dame's 3 (yet ND hit a higher percentage)
Notre Dame took 15 more free throw attempts than MSU -- but missed 13 of them
MSU had 20 offensive rebounds to Notre Dame's 13
Notre Dame blocked 8 shots to MSU's 4 blocks

FLORIDA GULF COAST LOSS (69 - 60)

Florida Gulf Coast made 9 three pointers to Notre Dame's 3
Florida Gulf Coast had 14 offensive rebounds to Notre Dame's 7
Notre Dame had 25 turnovers to Florida Gulf Coast's 10
Florida Gulf Coast took 71 shots compared to 49 for Notre Dame
Notre Dame out shot Florida Gulf Coast 46.9% to 38%

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE LOSS (65 - 59)

Notre Dame was 1 for 17 from behind the three point line
South Dakota State had 18 offensive rebounds to Notre Dame's 5
South Dakota State had 22 turnovers to Notre Dame's 10

Just a FYI -- Notre Dame's women's basketball program has not lost more than 4 games since the 2010-11 season. That year they ended up going 31 - 8, losing the NCAA Championship game to Texas A&M...

It's Been 26 Years Since Notre Dame...

The last time Notre Dame football won at least 10 games in three straight seasons was 1991-1993...

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Happy Thanksgiving From Notre Dame!

Every year, our storytelling team produces a Thanksgiving story...

Happy Thanksgiving!

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: