Posted on 01/03/2013 8:44:10 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The most widely stated theory about why Notre Dame allegedly has no chance in the BCS championship game against Alabama is the vast superiority of the Crimson Tide's league, the Southeastern Conference.
The Crimson Tide was tested at the highest level, the theory went. They went through a meat-grinder schedule no school outside the SEC could comprehend or survive. Certainly not some fancy-pants independent program that sprinkled service academies and low-level ACC opponents between its few big games.
You've heard it. I've heard it. Touchdown Jesus has heard it.
So you can bet the Fighting Irish players have heard it, too.
There's just one problem with that theory: The SEC hasn't been so superior this bowl season. After Florida's flop in the Sugar Bowl on Wednesday night, the League of Extraordinary Football – and Extraordinary Arrogance – is a measly 3-3, with three bowl games left. (Remaining contests: Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl; Mississippi vs. Pittsburgh in the BBVA Compass Bowl; and Alabama-Notre Dame.)
The Gators were routed from opening snap to closing gun by Louisville, a 14-point underdog. That followed an upset loss by LSU to six-point underdog Clemson in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, and a convincing loss by Mississippi State to mild favorite Northwestern in the Gator Bowl. That's losses to representatives of the Big East, ACC and Big Ten, three leagues SEC fans love to look down upon.
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.yahoo.com ...
RTR
Well it’s official. If some Yahoo Sports writer says that the SEC sucks, then they must really suck. Someone should see if Alabama is willing to withdraw and let Ohio State take their spot.
The SEC has won the BCS Championship Bowl since 2006 until the present.
Betting line: Florida from the vaunted SEC over Louisville by 14 1/2!
It’s really quite simple. All the Fainting Irish have to do is: Join a conference in Division 1, play seven or so Top 25 teams in Division 1 during the regular season (still room for Army, Navy, Air Force, Akron and Appalachian State.......lol), and win out.
Since none of this will happen, continue to expect ZERO respect.
Your only chance against Bama is forcing them to play against the officials like South Carolina had to overcome.
When Jan 8 dawns and the SEC post season record is 6 and 3, I wonder what Mr Forde will have to say. Personally, I can’t wait for the playoff format to start just so the influence of pinhead writers like him in the ranking system is reduced.
Save your money boys. Take Bama and give the points.
Bama 48-14. And I say that as a Bama hater.
This is exactly the type of arrogance to which Mr. Forde is referring.
GO IRISH
ROLL TIDE !!
Sucks? No, but not quite as good and as invincible as their fans think they are.
This Notre Dame team is impressive in its unity and focus on this game. Both teams have some really good young men playing for them. It should be a good game.
So you're clearly one of the "SEC is almighty" crowd. The SEC is likely to be 5-4 or 4-5 by the 8th. Pitt took ND to triple overtime, and beat VaTech and Rutgers, when both were ranked. Ole Miss has wet itself every time it came up against a quality opponent (other than LSU... one honorable loss). Pitt should win this one handily. A&M vs Oklahoma should be a great game, and will decide if the SEC has a winning record or not this season in the bowls.
But I agree, Bama squishes ND. The Irish don't have the offense that Bama does, and the ND defense can only hold on for so long against an upper tier offense. They barely did enough against Pitt, Purdue, and BYU (all 3-point wins). I see Bama as doing slightly better than those 3 offenses.
The ND win against Stanford is the most telling game to me. Stanford's run-heavy offense is very similar to Alabama's in pass production... buy isn't nearly as good as Bama rushing... is similar in rush defense... but is vastly poorer than Bama's pass defense... and it went to OT. Unless Bama makes multiple mistakes, ND won't score much on offense, and their defense will wear down. Call it 10-3 at the half, 16-6 after 3, and 30-6 when ND gets a free TD in mop-up time. 30-14, Bama.
But it is Bama, and they beat Michigan much worse than Notre Dame did. I'm glad it will be decided on the field. If ND wins, I salute them. Roll Tide.
The only advantage I see is that Alabama has been in the title game 3 of the past 4 years, so they know how to prepare for the game and many of the players are acclimated to the environment that they’ll have to play in.
Other than that it will be two storied programs battling for the right to be called National Champions.
As one famous quote goes “That’s why they play the game.”
Well, they do play the games for a reason. I’d wager that the top 75% of the BCS conference schools could beat each other on any given saturday, then throw in the occassional major upset or strong program from a sub tier conference and you have the makings of just not knowing!
That is precisely why I have lost interest in the entire college bowl season. Without a robust playoff system, there just is no way to know for certain. Add to that that the majority of the schools going to bowls lose a huge pile of cash on bowls for a program that in most of those cases are not even break even programs!
The bowl season in general has lost its way....
As an aside I noticed that ESPN Classics has been running the ND-Bama gane from the 1973 Sugar Bowl. I actually remember as a kid watching that game. Its funny at one point on the Bama sidelines there is a person smoking a cigarette close the Bear Bryant during the game and of course ND barely won because Bama missed an extra point.
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