Yea and the SEC should be made to play games in the cold because all those cold weather teams are hamstrung by playing in beautiful 80 degree sunny days, and ESPN hates your team and the NCAA is out to get you, and blah blah blah. I wish Mike and Mike watched this board so we could vote for you in the just shut up contest.

To be fair, Notre Dame helped define the college football mystique. The Irish contributed greatly to the reason why we college football fanatics get pumped and look forward to the colors and sunny Saturday afternoons in the fall.

However, there's no getting around the fact that ND football itself has become largely irrelevant in college football's elite that past 20 years.

If NBC is dumb enough to enter into multi-year, multi-million dollar contracts with Notre Dame simply because of the name and the fading mystique then so be it. More power to the ND athletic department.

The only thing I do scratch my head about is the on-going direct influence ND has on the BCS system. Simply because ND was once a powerhouse and arrogantly refuses to seek conference membership does not and should not give the school "special BCS status". It's certainly unfair to the true CFB elite schools represented by their respective conferences.

But then again, if BCS conferences are granting special BCS status to ND, then they have themselves to blame, not Notre Dame.

How is it arrogant? The whole point of this argument has been that outside forces offer ND perks. Why would you join a conference if you were able to:

set your own schedule including home/away
get into a BCS game if you have a really good year
get into the national championship/soon to be playoffs if you have an outstanding year
have a national network pay you to play your games on their network

Any school if given those options would take them and keep them. It's not to ND's benefit to join a conference at this time because that would actually reduce its control over its program. Looking at other big name teams, if the Big 10 dissolved tomorrow and OSU or Michigan were approached by Fox sports and the BCS and they said you can have ND's total deal with the network and the bowl games and the schedule control...or...you can get back into a conference. Nobody is choosing that conference route if you have that kind of setup before you.

It's not arrogant, its fucking smart and common sense.

Diet Coke;1248679 wrote:Notre Dame is American royalty like the Queen is to England. Just deal with it.

I actually like this analogy...reps :thumbup:

I think joining the Big Ten would make ND better.

The Equalizer;1249073 wrote: It's not arrogant, its fucking smart and common sense.

It's business. The idea that what happens on-field will be, or even should be, more important than the business aspect of it is a bit juvenile.

ND gets their own TV contract because people in relatively large numbers tune in to watch Notre Dame play.
An 8-4 ND team goes to a BCS bowl over a better 11-1 directional school becuse they send tens of thousands of people to the game, and millions more to TVs across the country.

ernest_t_bass;1249102 wrote:I think joining the Big Ten would make ND better.

ND would be a better fit in the MAC or SunBelt at this point. They would be a bottom feeder with the likes of Indiana and Minnesota every year; which we all know is the real reason ND won't join a conference.

sleeper;1249182 wrote:ND would be a better fit in the MAC or SunBelt at this point. They would be a bottom feeder with the likes of Indiana and Minnesota every year; which we all know is the real reason ND won't join a conference.

I didn't say they'd be a good fit for the Big Ten. I said it would make them better.

sleeper;1249182 wrote:They would be a bottom feeder with the likes of Indiana and Minnesota every year

ND's record vs the B1G (They have played OSU, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State and Purdue. Some of the better teams in the B1G and not the bottom feeders.)

2011 2-1
2010 1-2
2009 2-1
2008 2-1
2007 0-4
2006 3-1
2005 2-2
2004 2-1
2003 0-3
2002 3-0

total record 17-16 for the past 10 years

ernest_t_bass;1249190 wrote:I didn't say they'd be a good fit for the Big Ten. I said it would make them better.

I think it'd be a great fit.

FatHobbit;1249195 wrote:ND's record vs the B1G (They have played OSU, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State and Purdue. Some of the better teams in the B1G and not the bottom feeders.)

2011 2-1
2010 1-2
2009 2-1
2008 2-1
2007 0-4
2006 3-1
2005 2-2
2004 2-1
2003 0-3
2002 3-0

total record 17-16 for the past 10 years

Right, but no Wisconsin, Illinois, Nebraska, etc... ND would be lucky to win 4 games a year in the B1G; hell I'd give them bowl eligibility if they managed to win 4 games per year in the B1G.

Just to compare, Here is OSU's record vs Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State and Purdue for the last ten years.

2011 0-4
2010 3-0
2009 2-1
2008 3-1
2007 4-0
2006 3-0
2005 2-1
2004 3-1
2003 3-1
2002 3-0

26-9

So comparing ten of osu's best seasons on history with ten meaty oaker ND seasons including the worst in school history makes sense?

Here's Purdue's record the last 10 years against OSU, Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State

2011 1-2
2010 0-3
2009 2-1
2008 1-3
2007 0-4
2006 1-1
2005 1-1
2004 2-1
2003 1-2
2002 1-2

10-20

karen lotz;1249211 wrote:So comparing ten of osu's best seasons on history with ten meaty oaker ND seasons including the worst in school history makes sense?

I'm not done

sleeper;1249204 wrote:Right, but no Wisconsin, Illinois, Nebraska, etc... ND would be lucky to win 4 games a year in the B1G; hell I'd give them bowl eligibility if they managed to win 4 games per year in the B1G.

And no Minnesota, Indiana or Northwestern either. (Some years you can throw Iowa and Illinois into that group too)

FatHobbit;1249217 wrote:And no Minnesota, Indiana or Northwestern either. (Some years you can throw Iowa and Illinois into that group too)

I have no doubt in my mind Northwestern, Iowa, and Illinois would pummel ND on a yearly basis. I don't defend Indiana or Minnesota because those teams are not good, simply not good.

Here's Michigan's record the last 10 years against OSU, Purdue, Michigan State and Penn State

2011 2-1
2010 1-3
2009 0-4
2008 0-4
2007 3-1
2006 2-1
2005 2-1
2004 2-1
2003 3-0
2002 3-1

18-17

FatHobbit;1249207 wrote:Just to compare, Here is OSU's record vs Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State and Purdue for the last ten years.

2011 0-4
2010 3-0
2009 2-1
2008 3-1
2007 4-0
2006 3-0
2005 2-1
2004 3-1
2003 3-1
2002 3-0

26-9

OSU didn't win any games in 2010. Not 1 single game.

Here's Michigan State's record the last 10 years against OSU, Purdue, Michigan and Penn State

2011 2-0
2010 3-0
2009 2-1
2008 2-2
2007 2-2
2006 0-4
2005 0-4
2004 0-3
2003 1-2
2002 0-3

12-21

Here's Penn State's record the last 10 years against OSU, Purdue, Michigan and Michigan State

2011 2-0
2010 1-2
2009 2-1
2008 4-0
2007 1-3
[COLOR=#333333]2006 2-2
[COLOR=#333333]2005 3-1
[COLOR=#333333]2004 1-2
[COLOR=#333333]2003 0-3
[COLOR=#333333]2002 1-2

17-16[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR]

It would appear to me that ND has done as well or better than Michigan, Purdue, Michigan State and Penn State against common B1G opponents over the last 10 years.

FatHobbit;1249241 wrote:It would appear to me that ND has done as well or better than Michigan, Purdue, Michigan State and Penn State against common B1G opponents over the last 10 years.

ND only have to wake up a few times per year to play any real opponents. In the B1G, everyone has a tough game on their schedule every week in conference. You cannot compare the two since ND can circle 3 games on their schedule every year and just prep for those particular games. Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue don't have that luxury. They circle the whole schedule and have to decide between being competitive in OOC or trying to win the conference. Most choose the latter and even that is a crap shoot, especially with OSU's worst season ever being about the same as ND's best season in the past 5 years.

Just for kicks, here's Wisconsin's record against the same opponents.

2011 3-2
2010 3-1
[COLOR=#333333]2009 3-1
[COLOR=#333333]2008 0-4
[COLOR=#333333]2007 2-2
[COLOR=#333333]2006 2-1
[COLOR=#333333]2005 2-1
[COLOR=#333333]2004 3-1
[COLOR=#333333]2003 3-1
[COLOR=#333333]2002 1-3

22-17, only slightly better[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR]

sleeper;1249246 wrote:ND only have to wake up a few times per year to play any real opponents. In the B1G, everyone has a tough game on their schedule every week in conference. You cannot compare the two since ND can circle 3 games on their schedule every year and just prep for those particular games. Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue don't have that luxury. They circle the whole schedule and have to decide between being competitive in OOC or trying to win the conference. Most choose the latter and even that is a crap shoot, especially with OSU's worst season ever being about the same as ND's best season in the past 5 years.[/COLOR]

That sounds a lot like the SEC's argument for playing crappy teams in the preseason. Are you sure you aren't a closet Alabama fan?