With the 2009 football season getting closer and closer every day, the clock is starting to tick on filling out the rest of the 2010 football schedule. Most of the schedule has already been filled, but there are still two mystery opponents that remain unannounced to this point. Many ND fans have been hopeful that at least one of these final two games would be an exciting home and home series with a big name opponent. Perhaps the much-rumored series with Miami would be beginning?? Perhaps a big announcement with Alabama?? Maybe even that Wisconsin series that had people excited for a bit??Well, the athletic department has apparently found those two opponents for 2010. These schools are historic powers with long traditions and huge fanbases. When you think of college football, you think of both these schools. Television networks worship at the knee of these fine universities and salivate over the ratings bonanzas that follow them. According to the latest rumors, here are your final two opponents for the 2010 schedule:
TCU Horned Frogs
Tulsa Golden Hurricanes
Whoa!! The suits over at the Dome are really thinking big with those two blockbuster games. Who needs an epic showdown with Alabama that would shatter television records when TCU is available?!? Why go out and follow the lead of USC and play "Anytime, Anywhere" when you can just buy these half-baked home games for a million bucks late in the year with no return game?? I can't wait to get my Tulsa tickets for November 20, 2010 when it's going to be 20 degrees and rainy in South Bend. Imagine how excited NBC must be!!
Here's how the 2010 football schedule could be shaping up:
S04 PURDUE
S11 MICHIGAN
S18 @ Michigan St.
S25 STANFORD
O02 @ Boston College
O09 PITTSBURGH
O23 @ Navy (Meadowlands)
O30 TCU
N6 Army (Yankee Stadium)
N13 Utah
N20 Tulsa
N27 @ Southern Cal
Let's break this thing down now that we can finally get a look at it. There are three true road games in 2010. THREE. We actually go almost two full months between visits to an opposing team's campus (October 2 at BC to November 27 at USC). We're playing three usual suspects (MSU, BC, USC) in traditional road games and Navy on the "road" at the Meadowlands. The days of interesting road trips to places like Lincoln and Knoxville and Baton Rouge and even Chapel Hill or College Station appear to be a distant memory. The "unique" road trips these days for ND fans are glorified exhibitions at pro stadiums against teams like Army and Navy. Hey, if you want to go to NYC to watch ND play Army, that's cool with me. I'd just rather go to Tuscaloosa or Austin personally. I don't know. That's just me.
If we're going to only play 3 road games, why not go one step further and just play zero road games?? Why not just play 12 home games?? We might as well take this Harlem Globetrotters act all the way and "generate revenue" for all 12 games. We could just play 8 one-off home games, 2 "road" games at pro stadiums where we split the revenue, a neutral site home game, and a "road" game against Navy.
In "even" years, it appears that the 3 road games model will be the plan going forward. I'm pretty sure we're the only school in the country doing that. Apparently, the goal of our independent status these days is to play as many home games as possible. Call me crazy, but I didn't think that was the purpose of our independence.
Another thing I like to look at when a schedule is finalized is the home schedule. I love going up to South Bend for home games, and nothing gets me more charged up than a big time game at Notre Dame Stadium. It's my favorite venue in all of sports, so let's take a peek at those 2010 home opponents to find out the big games that fans can attend:
Purdue
Michigan
Stanford
Pitt
TCU
Utah
Tulsa
Where do I buy my season tickets?!? Check out that list of historical powers right there. HEAVYWEIGHTS! You can see mediocre Purdue and Stanford for the thirtieth time, or you can brave the cold to see games against legendary programs like TCU and Tulsa. Great to see Tulsa willing to put aside their chase for the Conference USA title to come up to South Bend for a week at the end of the year. When CBS is showing Florida-Georgia and ABC has Penn State-Ohio State, I'm sure NBC will be thrilled to show ND-Tulsa up against those games.
Finally, let's take a close look at the games leading up to the USC game at the end of the year. Hopefully the football team will be peaking as we head out to Los Angeles. Ideally, the schedule will have a few interesting challenges leading up to that big rivalry game that will have our squad battle tested by the time USC week rolls around. Maybe a big home game, maybe a road trip to toughen the team up. Let's take a closer look at those five games before the finale at the Colisseum.
O23 @ Navy (NY/NJ)
O30 TCU
N6 Army (Yankee Stadium)
N13 Utah
N20 Tulsa
Man, talk about battle tested!!! 3 home games against non-BCS schools with 250 pound linemen and a couple service academies!! When I think of USC, the first thing that comes to mind is how similar they are to Army. Nothing like coming down the stretch with 4 "buy games" and a "road" game against Navy. When our kids walk into the LA Coliseum, will we draw upon our experiences in other hostile environments like.........well.......ummm...............Yankee Stadium when we played Army?? When the USC band is playing "Fight On" every other down and the crowd is getting on us and the team is facing adversity, will we demand that the second half be moved to a neutral site?? Or better yet, maybe we could threaten to cancel the game unless USC agrees to a "one off" relationship with all games played in South Bend. Yea, that will show them!
If you didn't know any better, wouldn't you assume that was some CUSA team's actual schedule?? And yet that's our schedule!! The most famous program in college football!! An independent who could play anyone in America! A school that once had a legacy of playing "Anytime, Anywhere" and regularly played 4-5 ranked teams a year. Now, we're dialing it up with the Golden Hurricanes of Tulsa.
What the heck has happened to Notre Dame football?? How did we lose our way so badly?? Doesn't Swarbrick realize how silly this whole thing has become?? It's one thing to make money. It's another thing to completely devalue your brand to the point where it's not even recognizable. Why are we playing 5 consecutive non-BCS schools in a row leading up to our biggest game of the season?? Did I miss the memo that we joined the WAC?? Does anyone think the pollsters are going to be impressed by this stretch?? What other school is playing that many home/"neutral" games in a row against non-BCS schools??
Hasn't Swarbrick been reading all those preseason magazines ripping our schedule this year?? What are they going to say about us next year?? Doesn't Swarbrick find that to be embarrassing?? I sure as heck do. It's one thing to have the 7-4-1 scheduling model as a guide, but to hold to it like it's gospel is creating schedules that don't resemble Notre Dame football at all.
It's becoming more and more obvious that the commitment to that model should have been gradual. You can do the 7-4-1, but do it when you've gotten out of the Stanford and Purdue contracts. Do it when you have a better idea how to use the neutral site game as a tool for a big 1-1-1 series. Until then, keep things the way they were back in the 1980s and 1990s and the early part of this decade. Those schedules were phenomenal. The 7-4-1 is capable of producing good schedules (as we showed on this blog last week) when you have the flexibility to do it properly, but it's not possible to create a good schedule with that model when you have to cram in all these games in a limited number of home and home spots. That's how you end up with a schedule like the 2010 schedule.
I guess Swarbrick can avoid taking blame for this 2010 schedule by saying that his hands were tied and that there was nothing else he could do within the 7-4-1 framework, but it's hard for me to really take comfort in that line of reasoning. Swarbrick has been at ND for over a year now. At the end of the day, he is ultimately responsible for the scheduling product. If he arrived at the Dome with a mandate to shake things up, I think we would have seen a big time announcement coming our way for the 2010 schedule. I think we would have seen a temporary tweak to the 7-4-1 model until we had the room to operate it the right way. When you have a year to work on something big and bold and you come back with Tulsa and TCU, that's a statement to me that the Jack Swarbrick era might not be all that much different from the disastrous Kevin White era. Perhaps he will prove me wrong. Perhaps the 2010 schedule is going to be a blip in the radar and big games are on the horizon. I am not ruling out that possibility, but I would like to see some proof of that before singing his praises. Until then, all this talk about Miami and Wisconsin and Alabama is just talk. The 2010 schedule stinks, and he missed his opportunity to fix it.
And before someone posts in the comments section with the completely absurd "hey, you big meanie! You're an ELITIST! Utah and TCU are top 10 teams!" nonsense, just stop. Stop, stop, stop. These schools are non-BCS schools. There's a reason they aren't in a position to demand a return home game. We're paying them to come here for a game. I don't care what they're ranked, and I don't care that they would have beaten us last year. The fact that TCU has been decent doesn't make me any more interested in playing them. They're a Mountain West team. If they were truly a marquee opponent, we'd be going down to Abilene in 2011 to give them a home game. I don't have a problem with playing a couple "one off" home games, but we already have Army, Utah, and Navy on the schedule. I realize TCU is one of the better "buy games" we could find, but we should have been looking to play a home and home series instead. Heck, it doesn't even have to be a home and home with a "heavyweight." Give me a home and home with Arkansas or South Carolina. We play them at home in 2010 and on the road in 2011. If I have the choice between a "buy game" and a traditional home and home, give me the home and home all day long.
And for god sakes, Tulsa! It's one thing to schedule TCU, but to tack on Tulsa as well?? Come on! There's gotta be something better we could have done for a November game. Would I have a problem with opening the season against Tulsa?? No, I could live with that. In fact, I think we should open with a Tulsa/Nevada/San Diego State type team every year. But on November 20 when we already have all those other duds on the schedule in October and November???
I know "buy games" are here to stay for the forseeable future, but we need to use some common sense with these games. Use them early in the year when everyone else is playing those types of games. I don't think we should be playing any more than one "buy game" in November. Right now, we have three in November. That doesn't fly with me. The number one goal for this administration should be finding a solution for better November games. If it can't be done, then we probably should be looking around at a conference arrangement.
When Heisler and Swarbrick and company look back on their legacies at Notre Dame, I wonder if they will come to regret what has happened to the ND brand. We're talking ourselves into the idea that scheduling all these "buy games" is good for the program, but I think someday we'll look back and say "We scheduled Tulsa?? We played 5 non-BCS schools in a row down the stretch and none on the road?? What the heck were we thinking??"
73 comments:
You are a fool. TCU is not located in Abeline either. Why don't you watch some games and get back to us.
Abeline. Ha. IF this scheduling nugget is right I'm going to laugh my arse off when TCU comes in and shows you just how insignificant they really are, a la 2005.
Until then, enjoy the continual pleasure of being pwned by 'SC.
prepare to get fucked by the long dick of the mountain west...
Until you guys stop losing home games to bottom feeders like Syracuse, how about you don't insult TCU. It's not 1988 anymore. TCU would give your Irish a bit more than you're looking for.
"non-BCS schools with 250 pound linemen and a couple service academies"
TCU led the entire NCAA in time of possession last year and was fourth in total rushing, behind the three service academies! Our line averages well over 330lb. How was ND's O-line, buddy?
You're a freakin' tool.
Well over 300lb, rather. Sorry for the typo there. Before I get roasted for making out rageous claims.
Take care of business against your weak schedule before you call out TCU. You losing to USC every year does not impress anyone.
Enjoy the Aloha Bowl
Do you even watch college football? While I would love nothing more than to visit South Bend and watch the Horned Frogs beat ND by 3 TDs, to my knowledge this game isn't scheduled.
Do you have any idea how much of an idiot you realy are? It makes me sick that people like you exists and is another sign of the decline of modern civilization
Let me know the price you want to put on that ND-TCU game. I will gladly take your money on that matchup.
Tulsa was ranked in the top 25 last year, and they've had the number 1 ranked offense in the country the last 2 years. With this success on offense, they've been able to recruit three of the top QBs in the nation.
1. the #1 ranked juco QB from 2008
2. a Texas Longhorns transfer
3. #6 ranked scrambler that decommitted from Michigan.
Tulsa can score 60 on anybody, and they are looking for that marque game to prove themselves to the nation. In the past, it has always been OU, and the chances of beating them for anybody is slim. This is a chance for them to tear a BCS team a new A-hole.
Wow. TCU was 2 minutes from beating Utah, and crashing the BCS. This is the same TCU that beat a Boise St (with some of the same players that beat OU) team to ruin BSU's perfect season.
Now, Tulsa, while it did have it's rough stretch, is no longer the doormat of college football. A previous poster pointed out some of their most recent accomplishments. Unless ND gets an offense sometime soon, I see the Tulsa game as a good chance to come out as an L. I would take Tulsa's offense over the ND offense anytime.
TCU and Tulsa both had 4 more victories than Notre Dame last year. I guess they didn't pack in three huge "BCS" wins over the likes of Stanford, Michigan, and Washington, but hey, I get your point. Beating a BCS bottom-feeder and avoiding losses to decent non-BCS teams is a win-win.
Seriously, this entry shows how little you actually know about College Football.
I don't need to list off TCU's accomplishments in the last 10 years because I don't have all day other than saying that they finished #7 in the nation last year...beating a Boise State team that would have crushed you like flies.
And the Mountain West really sucks too...so much that Utah skull fuc*ed the vaunted Crimson Tide last year- oh, and TCU lost by 3 to them.
How about this...Irish fans pull their collective heads out of their collective asses and realize this ain't 1988 (as a commenter stated earlier). How bout you try beating Michigan State, at least at your home, and try to make a decent game of it the next time you play SC before you talk so much sh*t.
Tulsa has 38 wins over the last 4 seasons. Tulsa's 2 deep OL averaged over 300lbs. Tulsa has led the nation in total offense for the last 2 years.
While not as storied as Notre Dame, Tulsa has some history too.
Δ Tulsa was the first school to appear in five straight New Years Day bowl games
Δ Tulsa has played in 15 bowl games
Δ TU has won 34 conference championships
Δ Tulsa has 31 All-Americans
Δ Tulsa has 309 all-conference selections
Δ the Golden Hurricane has produced three NFL Hall of Famers, (More than Oklahoma and Oklahoma St)
Δ TU has the most former football players (4) to serve as head coaches in the NFL among Oklahoma colleges
Δ Tulsa has two Heisman Trophy runners-up.
Ain't gonna happen dumbass, unless ND would agree to come to Fort Worth (not Abilene dumbass). TCU already has 2 of 4 non-conf. games on the road. That ain't gonna happen either because ND would get slapped around even worse in Fort Worth.
Can't believe I am even responding to such a stupid blog.
The funniest part about this whole blog is that that Tulsa will beat ND next year then you won't have to worry about them being worthy enough or not
how many irish players were drafted in the last nfl draft? ..... because there were 5 horned frogs drafted .... it's not an accident, we have better players and are a better team .. but our record, bowl wins and rankings over the last few years would tell you that.
I can't beleive how far you have your head up your a$$. The ND 'brand' is long ago a faded item. soon NBC will realize it also. May not e long before ND becomes and 'opponent'
My comment can be found on my blog...
http://www.hornedfrogfrenzy.com
I'm a huge ND fan and I'll readily tell you that this blog post is a total clown job.
Tulsa, TCU, and Utah are all dangerous mid-majors who I'm excited to have on the schedule. Swarbrick is taking advantage of ND's independence by playing a schedule from diverse regions and conferences, which is exactly what should be done. If you have any defense against those three schools, please offer it because I haven't seen any. If they played ND this year, all three would be tough, tough games. In fact, I'd probably say ND would only be favored against Tulsa.
Moreover, the only other "crappy" teams on the schedule are Army, Navy, and Purdue. Navy goes to a bowl every year, with at least 8 wins. That's impressive. Army is pretty darn bad but at least we get to honor some history with the yankee stadium visit. Purdue? well at least they're from one of your precious big-six BCS conferences.
Finally, you pooh-poohed stanford. You're kidding, right? Harbaugh's last 3 classes were miles ahead of the 3 before them, and he keeps getting better. He was dangerous his first year, upsetting USC, his second year, 5-7 on the brink of much more, and will be even moreso this year and next.
This is a fantastic schedule. The teams on it mainly are set to improve on the previous year. Therefore, you get everything you want in an ND schedule: diversity, difficulty, and solid pacing.
Finally, your point about USC is just embarrassingly poorly thought out: first off many of those games against the quality mid-majors listed above are in fact tough games in and of themselves. Moreover, you DON'T want a murderers row in front of a tough game. Look back at Miami in 1989. You want to be able to secretly plan ahead for the SC game and work up to it without too much risk from overlooking your opponent.
Please open your mind and do a little more research on your next post.
All you TCU and Tulsa fans, calm down for a second. First of all, I don't think Doug is saying that your programs are a joke or anything like that. We follow college football here and realize that TCU has a dominant defense year in and year out and that Todd Graham has revitalized the Tulsa program with back to back 10 win programs. We get it.
I don't want to speak for Doug, but I think his commentary is more on the state of the ND athletic department than anything disparaging about your respective programs. I have no problem playing the Tulsa's and TCU's and Utah's of the world. And at least I feel that those would be competitive games, and honestly I won't be shocked if Utah or TCU beat ND.
The bigger point is that the ND athletic department has reportedly turned down home and homes with the likes of Georgia, Alabama, Miami and Wisconsin, depending on who you believe. And that leaves ND in the position of having to give you guys a wad of cash to come up to South Bend instead of doing a home and home series.
When the ND athletic department is left scrambling and has to buy home games, that frustrates us as ND alumni and fans. It's nothing against your programs. If anything, we would like to see Notre Dame play home and homes with teams like Utah and TCU, so long as the athletic department isn't banking on that being billed as the 'marquee' matchup for the season. The ND administration is tight lipped when it comes to reporting anything about rejecting Alabama or Miami, but then tries to act like throwing a UConn or South Florida on the schedule clears everything up. There's nothing wrong with playing UConn or USF; in fact I don't mind it at all, but let's play Alabama too. If ND get's their faces kicked in, well hey, we gave it a shot and didn't duck them. ND isn't going to get back to national prominence by beating the Navy's and Syracuse's and Nevada's of the world.
And for the record, we know that ND has been irrelevant in the national championship picture for the last 15 years. That insult stung a little bit 5 or 10 years ago, but we're over it. Don't worry, the Irish will be back.
Utah is a B_S (there is no Championship) school. Why? They have Fiesta Bowl and Sugar Bowl in their trophy case to prove it.
How many BCS bowl wins do the Irish have?
Oh, that's right...
"When the ND athletic department is left scrambling and has to buy home games, that frustrates us as ND alumni and fans. It's nothing against your programs."
That's not at all how this blog post is worded. If our blogger did not intend to insinuate that TCU and Tulsa are inherantly meaningless then he is, to say the least, not an impressive journalist.
Maybe the Irish should learn how to beat Boston College before they move onto Alabama or other big schools.
TCU fans, I understand the pride you have in your program, but this discussion doesn't really pertain to you. My complaints have nothing to do with TCU. My concerns are about Notre Dame and our scheduling policy. My other concerns are that the national pundits will kill us for playing all those non-BCS schools in a row, and that we'll get held back from the title game because the Mark Mays of the world are saying that we play a weak schedule.
I don't necessarily have a problem with playing TCU. I'm willing to acknowledge that it's impossible to schedule 12 home and home series, so you need a couple "buy games" in a 12 game schedule. I'd be fine with playing a "buy game" to open the season just about every year, and I'm ok with sprinkling in 1-2 other buy games in timely spots. Some of these "buy games" might be Army type opponents, and some of them may be up and coming programs like TCU. I'd rather play somebody like TCU than somebody like Eastern Michigan or Temple or a I-AA school. And I'm willing to acknowledge that TCU is a better program than a lot of lower echelon BCS schools like Vandy and Duke that have occasionally shown up on the ND schedule in a "one off" game. So in that respect, I think TCU viewed in a vacuum is a decent team to play.
However, I'm troubled by the fact that we're playing 5 non-BCS schools in a row at the end of the season, and that four of those games are "buy games." I'm even more troubled by the fact that we're only playing three road games in 2010. That is not what ND football is all about. We have always had a reputation for playing home and home matchups, and our athletic department has steadily eroded that reputation. The biggest problem with ND's football schedules is that we can't seem to find quality home and home matchups for late October and early November. TCU has been a decent program, but I was hoping we would find somebody like Alabama or Miami (FL). Traditional powers that bring in big ratings and big excitement and demand return home games. As a fan who likes to go up to South Bend for games, those are the types of teams that I would like to see more frequently. I can live with TCU or Tulsa, but not at the expense of a big home and home.
We are going to get crucified by the ESPNs of the world for playing that stretch at the end of the schedule. Maybe that's not fair to TCU, but that's the way it is. ESPN will be killing us with the "ND is playing 5 non-BCS schools in a row" talk, and that is going to hurt our ability to play in a BCS bowl. If you want to blame someone, blame ESPN. They are the ones who will be saying "TCU? Tulsa? Army?? ND's schedule is a joke!" I don't want to hear them ripping us for our schedule anymore. The only way to prevent that is to find marquee, big name opponents for home and homes late in the year.
And besides, where exactly am I knocking TCU?? I just reread what I wrote, and I point out in the original post that TCU is one of the better "buy games" we could have found. I also note that TCU would have beaten us last year. You guys have had a lot of success in the Mountain West. For all I know, you will run us off the field in 2010. I'm not denying all that. If you think my original post is ripping TCU, then I don't know what to say.
Bottom line, I don't mind playing a game with TCU if it's done properly. But when you combine it with the Army announcement and the Tulsa game and even the Utah game, that's too many non-BCS schools in a row. Fair or not, it gives the perception that ND is playing a weak schedule. I don't want that perception to be out there.
You honestly are the most idiotic person I have ever heard of... I was going to give the many reasons why you should stop writing... immediately, but it would be a total waste of my time.
Head over the message board that us Spartans rip you guys on constantly: www.spartantailgate.com.
Come by and try to justify yourself, I'm sure you'll convince us all that we don't OWN YOU AT ND STADIUM...errr... I mean Spartan Stadium: South.
One other thing. The real eyesore out of these two games isn't TCU. It's Tulsa. We're playing Tulsa when there are BCS schools all over the place that would love to schedule a home and home with us. The same Tulsa that lost 70-30 to freaking Houston last year! The same Tulsa that hasn't beaten a BCS school in I don't know how many years. I just went back and looked at their schedules in the past decade and didn't see one win over a BCS conference school. And yet there they are on the ND schedule.
Again, I could live with opening the season with Tulsa, but adding them into a slew of 5 consecutive games at the end of the year against non-BCS schools is a joke.
i don't know why you're so upset with this schedule dougie. ND has had weak schedules for the past 60 to 70 years. ND is a joke.
I have a feeling somewhere there are Tulsa fans complaining on a message board about having to play Notre Dame when there are all sorts of quality BCS teams they could be playing instead.
Keep talking trash and disrespecting Tulsa all you like. I see comments saying we'd be favored against all those teams except Tulsa... You would have been serious dogs against Tulsa last year, and unless fortunes change very rapidly for both programs, Notre Dame is cruising for a beat down against Tulsa. No more of this crap about "I could see us losing to TCU or Utah.. and leaving off Tulsa. I'll say it now and I'll say it again, unless things seriously change, Notre Dame is gonna get beat down by Tulsa come 2010. Utah, TCU, and Tulsa is a much rougher slate than Purdue, Syracuse, and Stanford could ever pose.
Maybe you should join the MWC...
Then you can lose year in out to BYU, UTAH, TCU and lets see Air Force and lets see maybe even Colorado State.
TCU crushed Stanford... BYU just did a 1-1 split with you guys with the worst team in 30 years in Provo...
I like playing you guys, come on out to Provo every year... Might as well have a real Holy War... lol
BCS schools wont do a home and home anymore with BYU and UTAH because they been losing to them.
Alot of the Bigger schools think you guys are an after thought.
I really think this is the year you guys get back in the mix. Your recruiting the last 4 years has been great. Be patient. Besides all you need is to go unbeaten and N. Dame plays for the title. So maybe you should be happy your playing down.
But really, I wish BYU and Noter Dame played every year... to me it makes sense and no one looks down on playing BYU because of its history of solid teams for 30 years.
Besides we can put enough people in the stadium to make it worth the trip to Utah... The UTE'S can not do that and Tulsa is better than you think.
"My other concerns are that the national pundits will kill us for playing all those non-BCS schools in a row, and that we'll get held back from the title game because the Mark Mays of the world are saying that we play a weak schedule."
You won't get held back from the title game. You can stand in line and buy a ticket like everyone else.
You domers are something else. You are not just irrelevant in the national title picture, but overall. You have 1 bowl victory in how many years? 12? 15? In the last 5 years Utah has two BCS Bowl wins. I got news for you Irish fans. Joe Montana, Tim Brown, Jerome Bettis, and Paul Hornung aren't walking through those doors. You are a mediocre program with a rich history. Deal with it.
Completely agree about the "Holy War" game against BYU. I'd love to see ND start up a regular home and home against the LDS folks. Unfortunately, as Doug has pointed out now at least 2 or 3 times, the current administration's scheduling "policy" won't allow for such consideration.
ND has become so heavy-handed in their dealings with possible future scheduling partners that they won't consider returning the favor of a home game with anyone not a "staple" in the schedule (ie, USC, Michigan, MSU, Purdue, Stanford). All the while, the athletic department refuses to engage teams like Purdue and MSU to consider the possibility of moving their matchups to later in the year.
Its extremely frustrating as an ND fan, which I believe was the main point Doug was trying to make with the original post.
How can you actually think you are in a position to bitch and moan about your schedule? Have you not turned on College Football Live in the past 15 months when all they talk about is how much you suck. You were lucky to win the bowl game in Hawaii and your program is a joke now. When you start winning games like TCU and Tulsa has done while you were off sucking Jimmy Clausen's dick, then you'd probably be in a position to male demands. I just wish TCU played ND this year so Jerry Hughes could turn the outside corner and rock Jimmy Clausen's world a dozen times. You have no credibility and you are relying on past success to fuel your argument of how good you say you are. TCU will send your fag leprachaun asses home and make you expirience the top tier of MWC football. If you got something else to say, I'm Andy Gaines so come and get me, bitch. See you in 2010.
I think it shows the quality of MWC and Notre Dame scheduling TCU further supports their argument to be included in the BCS discussion. Utah and TCU are quality teams and at least deserve the respect of a level playing field.
Unless things change fast, I don't see Notre Dame moving the ball against TCU or holding Tulsa under 40 points.
"You were lucky to win the bowl game in Hawaii..."
The score was 49-21 sweetheart.
TCU shuts out Notre Dame. Pow! Pow!
TCU 6.5 point favorites on the road vs. Notre Dame. Oh, and Fat Joe left Atlantic.
That fat ass, loser of a coach you are paying millions for, is going to get his fat ass whipped by the Horned Frogs and probably Tulsa. Notre Dame football is looked at as a joke these days by the nation's college football fans. Maybe you have been in a coma and don't realize that.
"I'm willing to acknowledge that TCU is a better program than a lot of lower echelon BCS schools like Vandy and Duke that have occasionally shown up on the ND schedule"
TCU is a better program than MOST cartel schools period. That's why we're pissed off. We field teams that would be a favorite against about 80% of the schools in the AQ conferences, and all we get from guys like you is, "sure, you're better than Duke." Right now, we're better than you.
Any informed college football fan now considers Notre Dame the dud based upon their W-L record. What they were and what they now are, are worlds apart.
From what I can tell you have an inflated view of your program and what you have been able to accomplish in the 21st century.
You better hope ND doesn't schedule TCU and Tulsa. The Fighting Irish would have a hard time moving the ball against the Frogs and Tulsa would light you up like a July 4th celebration.
You have entirely too much time on your hands. While some of your quips bashing ND are actually humorous, you're taking this a little too personal. Maybe you should take a timeout and lay off the 'tussin.
Just a question, but, umm...didn't you guys lose to Navy and Air Force back to back a few years ago?
and just another question...just wondering on this but um...do you guys show off that Hawai'i Bowl trophy in your trophy case or is that thing hidden in a broom closet somewhere?
here's a site with more balanced commentary on the subject. http://dougisadouche.blogspot.com/
You are a fool, I grew up a ND fan and am now a student at TCU. I can honestly say that I have followed both programs closely ever since I was a little kid. The fact that you think ND stands a fat chance in hell of even scoring on TCU is beyond me. We had the #11 pass defense last year (and since ND is ONLY capable of passing, and poorly I might add that pretty much takes away all offense). We ranked #1 in rush defense (while ND ranked 123 in rush offense) and we ranked 4 in total yards allowed. Now, all that considered, ND wouldnt get 100 yards total on Bumpas' D. You think the USC game last year was an offensive embarrassment? Play TCU, that will be embarrassing.
Additionally, for those of you knocking TCU's legitimacy as a program. We have totaled more wins in the past 5 seasons than all but 6 BCS teams. We have won a bowl game 6 of the last 7 years. We have been a ten win program 4 of the last 5 years and we have beaten the likes of OU, TTech, Utah, BYU, Boise and a few others all in the past few years.
For all of you ND homers(which I used to be) pull your head out of your collective ass and read some facts. There is nothing worse than an uneducated sports fan. You just won your first bowl game since '93. You havent had a ten win season in 4 years. You really have no clue what you are talking about. In all honesty ND is lucky to schedule a team like TCU. ND is lucky to get a team with that kind of rep to even consider playing them at home that late in the year. But, that is ok, you all keep bitching about us being a mid major, and we will show up in the 20 degree weather, rub your little di**s in the dirt and fly home to FORT WORTH, leaving you wondering where it all went wrong (the answer was somewhere in the late 80's, the last time you were relevant in any sport besides women's soccer).
I've got it now... Whenever someone someone types something this idiotic, it must be based on some deep seated insecurity. What makes other fans hate Notre Dame is the delusionally inflated sense of self worth their fans possess. However, deep inside their mind, UND people probably realize that unless things change alot in the next 18 months, they are looking at 2 to 3 losses between TCU, Utah, and Tulsa. that many losses to non BCS programs would face them to confront the reality of their mediocracy. that is unacceptable to their carefully constructed delusions, so we get this illogical tripe as a result. Mystery solved!
I think you mean "mediocrity" but your choice might be more apt.
mediocracy - government or rule by a mediocre person or group.
Its looking more and more like the ND administration and athletic department fits the definition of "mediocracy" to a T.
I consider Notre Dame on par with my expectations for Navy at this point. Seems work out pretty well betting-wise.
At the end of the year, coaches want to be in a position to win the conference and go to a BCS bowl. Playing ND in the middle of November doesn't do anything to help that.
I agree with most that this isn't 1988 with other powerhouse independents whom you can schedule marquee matchups with. Utah, Boise State, TCU, and BYU can hang with most anyone in college football and would be a challenge to Notre Dame. ND's best interest is in going to a New Year's Day / BCS bowl and getting the big paycheck. Playing top 10 teams every week won't get you there.
gee whiz...maybe you domers could schedule Texas A&M and Rice and Arkansas...they are as delusional as you. hell, between the four of you, you could have your own national delusional chumpionship--you could even throw Oklahoma State into the mix!!!
Doug, I think you are being short-sighted. Most of the college football world is now well aware that non-BCS teams can be just as dangerous as BCS teams. Many of the posters have touted the clear and present danger involved in playing TCU and Tulsa, and those posters are barely able to form sentences. If cretans (err...spartans?) like these can figure out that these are going to be tough games, can Corso and the BCS rankings geniuses be far behind?
In the famous words of the Dude, Doug, you are living in the past. ND needs to prove it can compete with these upstarts before they start scheduling more USC type teams.
Will the ratings be as huge as Florida/Georgia? No, but what game would? ND-Alabama? Maybe for the first 5 TDs Alabama scores, then they'd switch to a real game.
Will ND stadium sell out, regardless, and will you stuff your face with a giant Polish in the parking lot? Yes.
Will ND and its 100+ years of beautiful tradition from the Gipper to Mike Anello get exposed to some new audiences/fans in Texas and OK? Yeppers. It's a win-win, if we win.
Why isn't anyone pointing to the bright side of this thing? Tulsa was ranked in the top 20 at one point last year. TCU was in the top 10. Utah finished #2 in the country. Won't the computers love this kind of scheduling? Win 2/3 and there will be a bigger bump in the ratings than 3 so-so BCS schools could ever provide.
yes, espn will knock you about your schedule...when you lose to tcu (and you will).
your gripes should be with the army and navy signings--not tcu, tulsa, and utah. those programs can compete and will beat you if your program doesn't get better.
oh, the byu-notre dame game should be an annual event. it helps out both teams and it'd be awesome.
that being said, i hope notre dame gets better.
Funny how an earlier poster seems to think that the TCU and Tulsa fans can't form sentences. He then goes on to describe them as "Cretans", which would indicate they are from the island of Crete. A "Cretin" is someone with mental retardation related to thyroid deficiency. If you wishe to maintain the illusion of erudition, mind your p's and q's when using epithets.
Matt said:
And at least I feel that those would be competitive games, and honestly I won't be shocked if Utah or TCU beat ND.
Hey Matt, you are a tool to the Nth. At least competitive? Utah & TCU would trash ND at SB. Competitive? I think not!
It's like the economy: everything goes in cycles. Where is Nebraska these days? Where was UT in the 80's and 90's? A: getting beat down by Texas A&M who had a decent run for 15 yrs and is now at a nadir. Miami played the easiest schedules in the 80's and 90's, and has multiple championships for it. There are no astericks next to those years denoting the 'Canes played some of the easiest schedules in 1A football. Granted UM was good, as was ND in those years. But unlike Andy Gaines says, ND has not always played easy schedules for 60+ years. Year after year while Holtz was in South Bend, ND had the #1 ranked most difficult schedule in the nation, and only 1 championship to show for it. I think this is what present athletic directors are remembering, that no one puts astericks next to Miami's championships... And by the way, USC has been on a run of late, but I seem to recall USC being pwned by ND twelve consecutive times when USC was at their nadir in the 80's and early 90's. Michigan was an undisputed powerhouse under Schembeckler, but how many championships did he win? UM is presently trying to rebuild from a nadir as well. Back to my first sentence, everything goes in cycles.
I heard Doug has AIDS.
TCU would give you Irish Catholic's an ass-pounding to rival any pedi priest. If you play them in 2010 you have this to look forward to: They return 17 starters including their under-rated QB who is about to break Sammy Baugh's record for most wins at TCU.
Bring it on Domers.
Tulsa had the number one offense in the country in 2008 and 2009, where was Notre Dame? You have a long tradition of arrogance and unjustified pride, which blinds you from the fact that you guys are no longer at the top. I'm looking forward to seeing Tulsa and TCU dominate you guys.
Tulsa just beat the ass out of your beloved ND because they can't cover punts and throw interceptions when a game winning field goal is in the bag.
Why not wait until your team actually does something before ripping your opponents?
It's not that Tulsa got better, it's that ND is just completely irrelevant at this point.
TULSA JUST BEAT NOTRE DAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND DESPITE ALL THE TERRIBLE AND UNJUSTIFIED CALLS THE REFS WERE MAKING... THIS PROVES THAT WHEN YOU HAVE A FOOTBALL TEAM WITH HEART, YOU CAN OVERCOME ANY ODDS. INCREDIBLE GAME!
"And for god sakes, Tulsa! It's one thing to schedule TCU, but to tack on Tulsa as well?? Come on! There's gotta be something better we could have done for a November game. Would I have a problem with opening the season against Tulsa?? No, I could live with that. In fact, I think we should open with a Tulsa/Nevada/San Diego State type team every year. But on November 20 when we already have all those other duds on the schedule in October and November???"
You are right. I guess you should have taken your loss earlier in the year. Your over inflated ego for a mediocre team should be deflated now that you got beat by the smallest division 1 team.
A below average Tulsa team just beat Notre Dame, which proves just how little this blogger knows about college football. He should be thankful ND didn't play the 2007 or 2008 Tulsa teams. They would have whipped Weiss's pathetic teams by 35 points easily. Notre Dame would finish in the bottom half of Conference USA.
When I see what my Tulsa team did to ND, I can only imagine what TCU would have done if ND had kept them on the schedule. Lord, TCU is a superb team! Their second stringers would beat ND 60 - 0.
I'm disgusted with Notre Dame. I used to really enjoy pulling for them. As a kid I would wake up early to watch Lindsey Nelson calling the replay of their games. But, after watching the low class exhibition they put on after Tulsa beat them Saturday sickens me. ND sings their school song immediately following the game which prevents visiting teams any sort of celebration and I don't think that's an accident. Of course TU students were excited with the way the game ended against a BCS team. TU came to town, respected ND's pre game and half time events respectfully, even wore ND's shamrock on their helmets to show solidarity with the home team regarding the loss of one of their students only to have ND rabidly booing the kids and e-mailing Tulsa University with hate-filled letters. Using the death of a young college student as an excuse to be horrible to the visiting college kids. To suggest that the TU students had complete disregard for the loss of Mr. Sullivan was completely unfair to those kids and nothing could have been further from the truth. Everyone hates it when someone dies so young, especially when it is senseless and preventable had ND used good sense and not put the kid in such a dangerous situation. It was a disgusting display by ND and low class poor sportsmanship.
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