[spel_grammer_an_punct_polise]

Ever since I have been a child I have wondered what the big fascination is with Notre Dame football. They never play anyone of any significance and yet they are always highly rated. It makes no sense except that it is a Catholic university. Is that the fascination?

[iowamark]

It is hardly true to say Notre Dame never plays anyone of significance. They have the biggest fan base in college football.

[MrChips]

Never play anyone of significance? Excuse me? JUst the opposite. They regularly play EVERYONE of significance. See my longer post above.

[poconopundit]

When I was at Notre Dame 1970-1974, the coach was Ara Parseghian. At the stadium we students used to chant "Ara stop the rain, Ara stop the rain" because he was considered a football god (by the Irish faithful :- )

And you state the case correctly. The Irish played a relatively easy schedule and if they beat USC the last game of the season, the sports press was biased toward ND and they would be more likely to be voted national champions.

Times have changed, however, and today ND plays some solid teams. This year they ended up facing only 2 top 25 times since USC and Stanford did not rank high this year.

But last year, ND had the toughest schedule in the country -- 6 nationally ranked teams! See the diagram from wikipedia.

The Irish know the rules of the game today. Tbey choose their opponents — many years in advance BTW — to to deliver a competitive schedule. And one of the cool things this gives ND a chance to play in some interesting matchups. For instance they paid Georgia (in South Bend) last year and will play them again in 2019. And with my home now in Athens, GA, I'm not quite sure who I'll root for!

[dangus]

Well, Notre Dame practically invented modern football, popularizing such tactics as the forward pass. Portraying their star quarterback made the greatest American president of the last 150 years a star. Yes, the fact that they’re the flagship Catholic football program is a BIG deal. And although they some weak years in the past generation, they had NINETEEN UNDEFEATED SEASONS, more than any other team in the nation, and trail Michigan just a bit for the all-time highest winning percentage in history.

To put it simply, they’re the Yankees of college football. And yes, 80 million Catholics outweigh Michigan’s one million graduates or even their share of about 10 million Michiganders.