[NU Sports] Tears, Tears for old Notre Dame ...

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

Waaaaaaaaaah! Waaaaaaaaaaaah!

Sheesh - even all the way out in the desert I can
still hear all the whining from South Bend this
weekend ... but even worse is all this "greatest game
ever" hype.

Yeah, it was a wonderful finish - but greatest game
ever? Sorry Chicago columnists, Regis and Domer lovers
-- this isn't even the greatest game played in Notre
Dame Stadium (the '88 Miami game easily had more drama
throughout and that's not even going back more than a
couple decades).

And now all the BCS sour grapes is sure to come out --
without the notoriously Irish-biased AP poll in the
mix, they're #16 ... and with few big games left, they
may need help to get the BCS bid they feel so entitled
to. Awwwww.

Are the Big XII/Bowden Computers biased? Not really
... let's just look at who the Irish have beaten:

Pitt: 3-4 - awful team
Michigan: 4-3 - most mediocre Michigan team in years
Washington: 1-5 - worse than Pitt, but a better coach
Purdue: 2-4 - Tiller's worst team in Moo Moo Land

And with no B.C. on the schedule, the rest of the
slate looks pretty thin, save for a November home date
with Tennessee, who could be out of the top 20 if they
don't win at Alabama this weekend. Syracuse, BYU and
Stanford are pretty poor this year and Navy -- though
always tough -- won't help those BCS rankings either.

I think a win over Tennessee and some serious Mack
Brown-esque lobbying from the national press :) will
get ND over the hump and up in the polls for a BCS
bid. But if they fall to the Vols in November at home,
they just won't have a quality win and a poor SOS will
ruin any BCS hopes. GO ROCKY TOP!!! (Though I don't
think Phat Phil can exploit the Irish secondary like
$C and MSU did and will try to run it instead).

If I had to guess at the BCS now, I'd say ...

* ROSE: USC vs. Texas - Could have the top 4 Heisman
finishers, three wearing the maroon and gold. A big
game and SC has the hometown edge.

* FIESTA: Penn State vs. Notre Dame - I think the
Irish beat the Vols to sneak in and PSU shouldn't lose
the rest of the way, so with their Pac 10 and Big XII
ties gone, the Fiesta uses those first picks to take
the best matchup and make up for having to take Pitt
last year.

* ORANGE: Virginia Tech vs. Alabama - Not playing in
the SEC title game could help the Tide (or Gators) get
into the BCS ... though a 9-2 OSU team would be tough
for the BCS to pass up as well.

* SUGAR: LSU vs. West Virginia - Somebody's gotta play
the Big Least champ and WV and VaTech have already
met. At least they can play up the LSU and Sugar Bowl
away-from-New Orleans theme to generate interest.

The contest for that extra bid will be strong between
the Big Four (Big Ten, Pac 10, SEC and ACC). With the
SEC having the most top 10 teams all year and the open
bid probably coming in Miami or Atlanta, it's a pretty
safe call that the SEC gets the 1st extra slot for
now.

If ND doesn't get a bid, then the Fiesta would
probably LOVE to take a 10-1 UCLA and match 'em up
with 10-1 PSU in a Rose Bowl away from the Rose Bowl.

As for the Big Ten bowl picture, I hope to put
together a midterm report card later this week with
bowl predictions. Could be a real interesting year
with the upheaval in some conferences though (the
Alamo, for example, would probably have NEVER thought
they could have a Michigan vs. Oklahoma matchup when
this season began and both were in the top 10).

GO CATS!!!
-SjT

* * * * * * * * *
STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!!


	
		
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