Notre Dame

[jps2194]

That's great and all except that's not even close to what I said.

Okay, then what did you mean by the following comment?

But yes the SEC chest beating in here is hilarious, as if it does Tennessee any good. We sound like the little yapping dog running around the big dog in the old cartoons.

 

[therealUT]

How can you be a UT fan and argue the SEC is not the best conference? Maybe if the SEC takes home another NC you will change your mind :crazy:

Can someone be a KU fan and argue that the Big XII is not the best basketball conference?

I watched plenty of football this season. My personal assessment is that the SEC is in the middle of a major down year. Georgia has only looked impressive against Florida; moreover, Georgia is one win away from playing for the national championship. What was the last team to play for the BCS Championship that lost a game, during the season, by 28 or more points?

Nebraska was close in 2001, they lost by 26 to Colorado (and, they were destroyed in the championship game)
Oklahoma lost by 28 to K-State in 2003; nobody thought that they should have been playing in the national championship game.

As for Florida, at times they have looked like the most impressive team in the country; and, at times they have looked like the least impressive team in the country.

LSU has an above-average defense and an awful offense. A&M barely manages to beat Ole Miss and La. Tech, loses to LSU and Florida, and somehow pulls off the upset against Alabama. Out of the three decent teams that A&M played, they lost to two of them. The fact that the one team they beat, out of those three, was Alabama might suggest that Alabama is not as good as advertised (committing three turnovers at home, two of those were interceptions thrown by McCarron).

Notre Dame has a much better front seven than A&M, and A&M held Alabama to 122 yards on the ground. Notre Dame has a better secondary and pass defense than A&M, and A&M forced two interceptions.

Notre Dame's defense is going to force Alabama to throw the ball. Notre Dame gets to the QB with a four-man rush; Alabama's o-line might force ND to send five. If you think McCarron can put Alabama on his shoulders again (he certainly did it at the end of the LSU game, so it is a possibility), then give the edge to Bama. If you think that McCarron does not deal well with pressure, because he rarely if ever experiences it, then you might want to think about putting money on ND.

 

[jps2194]

I'm not arguing that ND is a top team, but that they would have lost a game or two had they played in the SEC. I agree ND looks good and will be a good matchup for Bama or GA.

However, I personally feel their schedule is soft compared to the rest of the SEC teams. That is my only point.

 

[therealUT]

I'm not arguing that ND is a top team, but that they would have lost a game or two had they played in the SEC. I agree ND looks good and will be a good matchup for Bama or GA.

However, I personally feel their schedule is soft compared to the rest of the SEC teams. That is my only point.

ND played two tough teams: Stanford and OU. There were two weeks between these games, that weekend was filled by a game against BYU.

Alabama played two tough teams: LSU and A&M. These games were played on back-to-back weekends. Alabama lost one.

I find it hard to imagine that ND would have lost to LSU (such a matchup favors ND); ND might have lost to A&M, but maybe not (I do not foresee ND turning the ball over as much as Bama did not allowing A&M to control time of possession).

The toughest schedule in the SEC, this season, belonged to Florida. They had to play SC, UGA, A&M, and LSU. As I have stated, I find it hard to imagine that ND would have lost to A&M or LSU. I also do not see UGA or SC matching up well against ND. And, well, Florida would be removed from the equation (though, when playing well, I think Florida would give ND the best game) because ND would be taking their place.

If Florida would have shown up for the UGA game, then Florida would be the number one team in the country. Instead, Florida committed six turnovers. That is not the schedule beating Florida, that is Florida beating Florida. ND does not turn the ball over much. The one game they did (3 times against Pitt) it almost cost them severely; however, you turn the ball over six times in any one contest, and you are most likely not winning the game no matter who the opponent is.

But, back to ND having Florida's schedule (the toughest schedule in the SEC this season), which games are you certain that ND would not win?

Bowling Green - W
@ aTm - W (too early in the season for Manziel to deal with ND's defense)
@ UT - W
UK - W
LSU - W
@ Vandy - W
USC - W (ND's weakness is their secondary, Conner Shaw is not the QB to expose that weakness)
UGA - W (aside from UF gifting the game to UGA, Murray has done nothing but choke in big games)
Mizzou - W
La. Lafayette - W
Jacksonville St. - W
FSU - W

Maybe Murrary shows up against ND (we might find out if he shows up against Bama this weekend). Other than that, who is beating ND on that schedule?

 

[jps2194]

ND played two tough teams: Stanford and OU. There were two weeks between these games, that weekend was filled by a game against BYU.

Alabama played two tough teams: LSU and A&M. These games were played on back-to-back weekends. Alabama lost one.

I find it hard to imagine that ND would have lost to LSU (such a matchup favors ND); ND might have lost to A&M, but maybe not (I do not foresee ND turning the ball over as much as Bama did not allowing A&M to control time of possession).

The toughest schedule in the SEC, this season, belonged to Florida. They had to play SC, UGA, A&M, and LSU. As I have stated, I find it hard to imagine that ND would have lost to A&M or LSU. I also do not see UGA or SC matching up well against ND. And, well, Florida would be removed from the equation (though, when playing well, I think Florida would give ND the best game) because ND would be taking their place.

If Florida would have shown up for the UGA game, then Florida would be the number one team in the country. Instead, Florida committed six turnovers. That is not the schedule beating Florida, that is Florida beating Florida. ND does not turn the ball over much. The one game they did (3 times against Pitt) it almost cost them severely; however, you turn the ball over six times in any one contest, and you are most likely not winning the game no matter who the opponent is.

But, back to ND having Florida's schedule (the toughest schedule in the SEC this season), which games are you certain that ND would not win?

Bowling Green - W
@ aTm - W (too early in the season for Manziel to deal with ND's defense)
@ UT - W
UK - W
LSU - W
@ Vandy - W
USC - W (ND's weakness is their secondary, Conner Shaw is not the QB to expose that weakness)
UGA - W (aside from UF gifting the game to UGA, Murray has done nothing but choke in big games)
Mizzou - W
La. Lafayette - W
Jacksonville St. - W
FSU - W

Maybe Murrary shows up against ND (we might find out if he shows up against Bama this weekend). Other than that, who is beating ND on that schedule?

I think you are missing the point I'm making. Of course if you look at each team individually, it's hard to argue that ND might win them all. But, the point is, the SEC is full of tough physical teams that at least half of them on your list would be capable of beating ND on any given day.

Alabama's strength of schedule was 10 vs. 25 for ND. I just personally believe they would have had a bad day against one or two of the teams and lost. I also feel if Barkley wasn't hurt USC had a real chance of winning that game.

 

[therealUT]

I think you are missing the point I'm making. Of course if you look at each team individually, it's hard to argue that ND might win them all. But, the point is, the SEC is full of tough physical teams that at least half of them on your list would be capable of beating ND on any given day.

Half? Name them.

Alabama's strength of schedule was 10 vs. 25 for ND.

I care little about the SOS ranking. Most of the teams in the SEC never played any team worth a damn outside of the SEC. The rankings are based on a subjective polling system that inflates itself.

I just personally believe they would have had a bad day against one or two of the teams and lost.

It is quite possible. ND had three bad days this past season: Purdue, Stanford, and Pitt (I think BYU came in with the best game plan a team can have against ND and executed it well; I do not think ND had a bad game). They never trailed against Purdue; they held on to beat a good Stanford team; and, after turning the ball over three times (once in OT), they came back and beat Pitt.

ND could have had its worst day ever against UT, UK, Bowling Green, Mizzou, LL, and JSU and they still would have come away with wins. That leaves only aTm, LSU, Vandy, UGA, and USC. I think ND's defense wins the game for ND against an early season Manziel (it was his first game), against LSU, Vandy, and SC, due to the matchups. UGA would be the tough one on a bad day.

I also feel if Barkley wasn't hurt USC had a real chance of winning that game.

ND missed a FG, stalled inside the five after moving the ball on the ground for the entire length of the field, and still won that game by two possessions. The 2012 edition of Matt Barkley has not shown me anything that would lead me to believe that USC would have won that game had he been in there. To say otherwise is absolute silliness.

 

[jps2194]

USCe, UGA, LSU, Vandy are all capable of beating ND.

This is a ridiculous argument because it is all hypothetical. If you want to believe ND would not lose in the SEC, that is fine. I just happen to not agree with that statement.

 

[jps2194]

ND missed a FG, stalled inside the five after moving the ball on the ground for the entire length of the field, and still won that game by two possessions. The 2012 edition of Matt Barkley has not shown me anything that would lead me to believe that USC would have won that game had he been in there. To say otherwise is absolute silliness.

You talk about how great the ND defense is but won't admit an excellent QB wouldn't produce at least 14 points more than someone who has never started a game in his life and his first start is against #1. Not to mention a first time starter had his team within 6 points with 6 minutes to go in the game.

That, my friend is absolute silliness.

 

[therealUT]

You talk about how great the ND defense is but won't admit an excellent QB wouldn't produce at least 14 points more than someone who has never started a game in his life and his first start is against #1. That, my friend is absolute silliness.

Barkley could not do it against Stanford. Barkley threw at least one interception in every game (two in most) aside from games against Colorado, Utah, and Hawaii. What other better than decent defenses did USC face this season, aside from Stanford?

Barkley will be as big of a bust as Leinhart, and his presence in this game would not have added 10 extra points for USC.

 

[jps2194]

I'm done having this pointless argument with you. You have no idea what would have happened because it is THEORETICAL.

SEC Rules! :dance2: