Ducks Suffer Due To Notre Dame Bias
Poor Oregon.
The Oregon Ducks will probably not make a BCS bowl game even though they are 10-1 and their only lost is against the two time defending National Champion USC. (And they actually led 21-3 in that game.)
Most likely the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will play in a BCS game despite having lost two games (one to USC and the other to 5-6 Michigan State) because the NCAA and the national media have some sick perverse love affair with the small Catholic school from South Bend, Indiana.
Notre Dame has not beaten a quality opponent all year. They beat a U of M team that had to struggle to go 7-4, and overrated Tennessee team that did not become bowl eligible for the first time in a gazillion years, and a University of Washington team that was 2-9. Notre Dame struggled in victories over Navy and Stanford and their wins against Syracuse, BYU and Purdue were not impressive because those three teams have a combined record of 12-21. In fact The Fighting Irish only beat four teams with winning records. How are they ranked sixth in the nation ahead of The Ohio State University whose only two losses are to number two Texas and number four Penn State?
Sure Notre Dame has put up some impressive offensive numbers under new Head Coach Charlie Weis. But is that deserving of a BCS bid over Oregon?
The argument that the BCS it is all about TV ratings is bogus. If that were the case U of M should face Florida State or Miami every year for the National Championship game.
Moreover, just because every Catholic is a fan of Notre Dame this does not mean higher ratings for a particular bowl game that features the Fighting Irish. Only 24 % of the US population is Catholic and what percent of those are sports fans? Maybe a Protestant School like Alma (Protestants make up 53% of the US population) should play in the National Championship game because that would encompass half of the US population.
A Notre Dame vs. Ohio State match up (as is the rumor) in the BCS is only intriguing because it will display what an over-hyped team Notre Dame truly is. The OSU fans would love to see this match up. Linebacker AJ Hawk would destroy the Irish WR, Jeff Samardzija and then QB Brady Quinn would have to try to figure out who else to throw the ball to 100 times per game (probably Maurice Stovall). Offensively The OSU would be able to run with RB Antonio Pittman or QB Troy Smith and WR Santonio Holmes would have a field day against Notre Dame’s pitiful secondary.
But this match up should never happen. Notre Dame does not deserve a BCS bid at 9-2, with wins against mediocre football teams, over Oregon who is 10-1 and defeated quality opponents like Fresno State, California and Arizona State.
The Oregon Ducks will probably not make a BCS bowl game even though they are 10-1 and their only lost is against the two time defending National Champion USC. (And they actually led 21-3 in that game.)
Most likely the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will play in a BCS game despite having lost two games (one to USC and the other to 5-6 Michigan State) because the NCAA and the national media have some sick perverse love affair with the small Catholic school from South Bend, Indiana.
Notre Dame has not beaten a quality opponent all year. They beat a U of M team that had to struggle to go 7-4, and overrated Tennessee team that did not become bowl eligible for the first time in a gazillion years, and a University of Washington team that was 2-9. Notre Dame struggled in victories over Navy and Stanford and their wins against Syracuse, BYU and Purdue were not impressive because those three teams have a combined record of 12-21. In fact The Fighting Irish only beat four teams with winning records. How are they ranked sixth in the nation ahead of The Ohio State University whose only two losses are to number two Texas and number four Penn State?
Sure Notre Dame has put up some impressive offensive numbers under new Head Coach Charlie Weis. But is that deserving of a BCS bid over Oregon?
The argument that the BCS it is all about TV ratings is bogus. If that were the case U of M should face Florida State or Miami every year for the National Championship game.
Moreover, just because every Catholic is a fan of Notre Dame this does not mean higher ratings for a particular bowl game that features the Fighting Irish. Only 24 % of the US population is Catholic and what percent of those are sports fans? Maybe a Protestant School like Alma (Protestants make up 53% of the US population) should play in the National Championship game because that would encompass half of the US population.
A Notre Dame vs. Ohio State match up (as is the rumor) in the BCS is only intriguing because it will display what an over-hyped team Notre Dame truly is. The OSU fans would love to see this match up. Linebacker AJ Hawk would destroy the Irish WR, Jeff Samardzija and then QB Brady Quinn would have to try to figure out who else to throw the ball to 100 times per game (probably Maurice Stovall). Offensively The OSU would be able to run with RB Antonio Pittman or QB Troy Smith and WR Santonio Holmes would have a field day against Notre Dame’s pitiful secondary.
But this match up should never happen. Notre Dame does not deserve a BCS bid at 9-2, with wins against mediocre football teams, over Oregon who is 10-1 and defeated quality opponents like Fresno State, California and Arizona State.
posted by az at 2:31 PM
3 Comments:
BYU, Michigan, and Navy are the only .500+ teams that I could think of, who else did they beat?
Ohio State would kill them, and that's why I think Ohio State might not be selected.
I like ND. I agree, however, that they are undeserving of the BCS nod.
I think the main problem with the Ducks is their lack of better design judgement in ther unis.
Ohio State would absolutely murder ND. I wouldn't mind seeing that.
What bowl are the Spartans going to this year?
I would like to see Penn State slide up into the national championship game. I would like to see Penn State win the national championship game.
That way, I can watch Joe Paterno die (probably on the field) a happy man.
i misspoke in my blog.
those are the only three teams they beat with a winning record (combined 19-13). they only played four teams that had a winning record (usc is the other one).
yep, the spartans aren't going bowling this year...again. but the motto at state has been, "next year will be different." it won't though.
for penn state to get into the national championship game texas would have to lose in the big 12 championship game (which won't happen) and usc would have to lose to ucla (which may happen). i would like to see penn state there too b/c i agree joepa would probably die afterwards and he'd be happy. but also, penn state vs. usc in the rose bowl would be an awesome match up and would keep the tradition of pac 10 big 10 in the rose bowl. go whoever plays texas!
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