Pittsburgh has stopped the bleeding after getting legitimately pummeled by Youngstown State to open the season. Still though, they are a below average team, at 1-3 in the pathetic Big East.

Brian Kelly's scores against Pittsburgh:

2007: L 17-24
2008: W 28-21
2009: W 45-44
2010: W 23-17
2011: W 15-12

All of the games have been decided by one possession. That is sorta crazy. This is a new Pittsburgh coaching staff, and just like Purdue's DC, it's tougher coaching against guys whom you don't know. Pittsburgh has a tremendous backfield and tall possession receivers in Shanahan and others. This is a team with talent that needs to jell under their new coach.

On a good note, Brian Kelly is 7-1 at Notre Dame (87.5%) in the month of November. I expect him to be 10-2 at worst after this season.

I expect Notre Dame to rush for ~250, pass for ~200, and win 35-9.

Pitt in an upset

Gotta avoid a letdown.

Wouldn't be the first time Pitt has ruined National Championship dreams, but ND should win this one easily.

Notre Dame -19 is the opening line.

WebFire;1306693 wrote:Wouldn't be the first time Pitt has ruined National Championship dreams, but ND should win this one easily.

Well played, but the Irish by a dozen.

Time for ND to start impressing the voters. Not only do the Irish have to win over the next three weeks...they have to win big. Any close calls before the USC game would be pretty detrimental to ND's hopes of a NC birth, IMO (assuming there's more than two teams that are undefeated at the end of the season).

That being said, I think ND's defense is way to tough for Pitt. And I think ND's rushing attack is going to gash them. I think ND pulls away in this one similar to the game against Miami.

Aww, that's cute. He thinks they'll get a shot at the NC game.

dlazz;1306920 wrote:Aww, that's cute. He thinks they'll get a shot at the NC game.

If they're undefeated, they're in the discussion.

I think it's cuter that you think the BCS is more worried about getting the two best teams and not about money. You think any of the four at the top will bring more money than ND?

Believe it, if ND is undefeated at the end of the year...the BCS will make sure that they are at least #2.

sherm03;1306925 wrote:If they're undefeated, they're in the discussion.

I think it's cuter that you think the BCS is more worried about getting the two best teams and not about money. You think any of the four at the top will bring more money than ND?

Believe it, if ND is undefeated at the end of the year...the BCS will make sure that they are at least #2.

Herbie was saying tonight how if Oregon and ND both win out, Oregon will still be #2 in the BCS. I wasn't paying much attention. Something about because the Harris and AP polls I believe still count for 2/3rds of the BCS or some shit like that.

Golic is loving it on Mike&Mike. :laugh:

GoChiefs;1306941 wrote:Herbie was saying tonight how if Oregon and ND both win out, Oregon will still be #2 in the BCS. I wasn't paying much attention. Something about because the Harris and AP polls I believe still count for 2/3rds of the BCS or some shit like that.

True. The human polls account for 2/3 of the rankings. The other portion is the computers. So far, the computers absolutely love ND (they have them at #2). Herbie's point was that voters won't drop Oregon if they keep winning, and because their schedule gets harder, they'll move up in the computer polls.

However, that human vote can be swayed. And as I said before...if the BCS wants the ND cash cow in the title game, they will make sure that they are there.

said_aouita;1307056 wrote:Golic is loving it on Mike&Mike. :laugh:

Yea, he's going a little overboard, but who can blame him...he's an alum and his kid's playing.

said_aouita;1307056 wrote:Golic is loving it on Mike&Mike. :laugh:

Waited all damn morning to hear what he had to say and fell asleep right before it. Lol

GoChiefs;1306941 wrote:Herbie was saying tonight how if Oregon and ND both win out, Oregon will still be #2 in the BCS. I wasn't paying much attention. Something about because the Harris and AP polls I believe still count for 2/3rds of the BCS or some shit like that.

Which makes no sense to me. Oregons best wins would be Stanford and USC. Both teams ND would have beaten. NDs schedule has proven to be easier than what we expected...but still much tougher, imo, than the rest of Oregons schedule.

Laley23;1307174 wrote:Which makes no sense to me. Oregons best wins would be Stanford and USC. Both teams ND would have beaten. NDs schedule has proven to be easier than what we expected...but still much tougher, imo, than the rest of Oregons schedule.

That's exactly what will be brought up if both are undefeated at the end. The thing that Oregon does have going for it is that they will have the Pac 12 Championship game, while ND and K-State sit idle. So Oregon could potentially say they were able to beat USC twice...giving them a little bit of an edge over ND.

Like I said...it all comes down to money. And ND will bring a ton of money to a BCS championship game. If undefeated, the BCS will figure out how to get them into the NC game. Whether they would deserve it or not, is up for debate.

sherm03;1307217 wrote: If undefeated, the BCS will figure out how to get them into the NC game.

Yes, because the BCS would "figure" out how to manipulate the mathematical formula they use to determine rankings.

dlazz;1307221 wrote:Yes, because the BCS would "figure" out how to manipulate the mathematical formula they use to determine rankings.

They would "figure" out how to influence the human element to make sure that ND's rankings in that part (which account for 2/3 of the formula) would be high enough to secure the #2 ranking. The computer polls will keep ND high since they already love them. They keep winning out, they should stay in the top 3 in those polls (or drop to 4 in a worst case scenario move). But since those only account for 1/3 of the formula...a drop there wouldn't hurt ND if they move up in the human polls.

sherm03;1307217 wrote:That's exactly what will be brought up if both are undefeated at the end. The thing that Oregon does have going for it is that they will have the Pac 12 Championship game, while ND and K-State sit idle. So Oregon could potentially say they were able to beat USC twice...giving them a little bit of an edge over ND.

Like I said...it all comes down to money. And ND will bring a ton of money to a BCS championship game. If undefeated, the BCS will figure out how to get them into the NC game. Whether they would deserve it or not, is up for debate.

True. But again, is a 5 loss USC better than Oklahoma (no), Michigan (debatable, Id say no) or Michigan St. (debatable, Id say yes)???

vball10set;1307547 wrote:

Awesome. Reps!

Why does everyone keep saying Oregon is going to face USC twice? If Arizona wins out and USC loses to Oregon then Arizona owns the tie-breaker and heads to the PAC-12 Championship game.

Mooney44Cards;1307600 wrote:Why does everyone keep saying Oregon is going to face USC twice? If Arizona wins out and USC loses to Oregon then Arizona owns the tie-breaker and heads to the PAC-12 Championship game.

Very valid point. I guess myself, and others, don't have faith that Arizona would win out.

sherm03;1307061 wrote:True. The human polls account for 2/3 of the rankings. The other portion is the computers. So far, the computers absolutely love ND (they have them at #2). Herbie's point was that voters won't drop Oregon if they keep winning, and because their schedule gets harder, they'll move up in the computer polls.

However, that human vote can be swayed. And as I said before...if the BCS wants the ND cash cow in the title game, they will make sure that they are there.

I don't think the BCS wants another shutout like last year's debacle. Count me in on someone rooting for ND this year so I can watch them lose 70-0 against Alabama.

sleeper;1309188 wrote:I don't think the BCS wants another shutout like last year's debacle. Count me in on someone rooting for ND this year so I can watch them lose 70-0 against Alabama.

I'm rooting for LSU this weekend, so a couple of one loss SEC teams are left out of the title game.