I've heard a lot of complaints about how "Oregon should go to a BCS bowl game over Notre Dame". Well I don't think that's true because Notre Dame lost to USC in the closing seconds of the game, while Oregon lost to them by 32 points.. my point exactly
Oregon is more deserving of a BCS game than Notre Dame. Oregon had one loss all season. Notre Dame had two losses, including a home loss to a very bad Michigan State team...my point exactly.
You are forgetting the dome's SECOND loss. Remember, the one to the team with a losing record? Oregon didn't have one of those this season. 10-1 is better than 9-2 and that's why the Ducks belong in the Fiesta Bowl.
Let me preface this by saying I'm not an Oregon fan. I simply want to bring an end to any pro-Notre Dame banter on this message board.
I've never seen a team suffer a loss and still have a legion of idiots count the game as a win. A couple teams have played USC close when the Trojans weren't interested enough to show up (see, for example, the Fresno State game). In this light, Notre Dame didn't do anything special during that loss to USC. Notre Dame LOST that game. It was a LOSS.
I also love how everybody seems to have forgotten that the Irish lost to Michigan State...MICHIGAN STATE...on their home turf. The Spartans planted their flag in the middle of ND's field. Remember? That happened because Notre Dame LOST that game too.
"Look at how close the USC game was! Look at how close the USC game was!" Christ...True, Oregon lost to USC by a larger margin than ND did, but if you want to look at margins, you really ought to compare Oregon's win over Stanford to Notre Dame's win over the Cardinal as well. The Irish barely beat Stanford. Think about it...STANFORD. Oregon beat them easily. So, if you really want to compare margins, ND doesn't look all that great when you look at the whole picture. Consider all common opponents instead of being selective about which ones you mention because they tell the story you want. Oregon lost to the same USC team that nobody has beaten in three years. That puts them on equal footing with Notre Dame and everyone else who has played USC during that time, all other things held constant.
Margins of victory aren't as important as other things in the end anyway. Even great teams have bad days. What matters is whether or not a team finds a way to win when it counts, and that story is told by the W-L column. Did they get it done or didn't they? Oregon was 10-1. Notre Dame was 9-2. Strength of schedule certainly matters as well. Oregon's opponents had a combined winning record. Notre Dame's opponents had a combined losing record. The coaches, who as everyone on planet Earth certainly agrees know the most about college football among voting pollsters, ranked Oregon over Notre Dame at season's end. The BCS, an arbitrary, mostly unbiased system, ranked Oregon over Notre Dame. The CPU average, the most unbiased measure, had them ranked WAY over Notre Dame. The BCS pct. wasn't even close between these two teams.
Only the AP poll and the Harris poll ranked the Irish over the Ducks, and we all know that AP and Harris voters don't know much. The media voters jump at the chance to rank Notre Dame highly whenever that chance arises because they want to see a once-upon-a-time-great program show a glimpse of the greatness they will never again obtain, whether Notre Dame fans are delusional about it or not.
But wins, losses, rankings, and opponents' records aren't as important as other things in the end either. What matters in the end is that Notre Dame has special rules for getting into the BCS bowls. Here's your bottom line: The bar has been set lower for Notre Dame because bowl officials want a bunch of rich Catholics and bandwagon fans nationwide to spend money on the game. Most ND fans across the country have never even been to South Bend or set foot on Notre Dame's campus. If they had, they would be sorely disappointed. South Bend is the armpit of America, and Notre Dame certainly isn't even close to being the great institution people love to pretend it is. Just because something is widely popular, one shouldn't assume it is great by any means. Think of popular music, for example. Celine Dion is widely popular, but her music isn't any good. Thus, I equate Notre Dame football with Celine Dion's music. It appeals to the mindless masses.
Whether ND fans want to be honest about it or not, everybody watching knows that Oregon should be playing in the Fiesta Bowl. Were it not for special rules, Notre Dame would be playing elsewhere. The last time the BCS tried to squeeze ND into one of their bowl games...well, let's just close the casket on that one. We all saw what happened, and it was morbid. The BCS already owed the Ducks one after screwing them out of the national championship game against Miami a few years ago. Now they owe Oregon a couple. It's the only way to see it, really. I hope Ohio State rolls Notre Dame so not even Notre Dame die-hards can pretend the Domers deserved a BCS spot this year.
I apologize for such a long post. It's just that there are SO many reasons to hate Notre Dame this year, and any non-delusional college football fan knows that this puts an end to the discussion. I'm sure someone with hurt feelings and an inability to comprehend the truth will respond to this, but pay no attention. The argument is completely finished, minus any subsequent and inconsequential commentary surely coming soon from Notre Dame fans. You're welcome.
i cant agree with this post more. i couldnt quite put it into words but you just did perfectly. i live in virginia, im a virginia tech fan, and i hate notre dame. not because they are my teams rival, because they are, just as you put it, a bunch of rich blue collar catholics who probably never have stepped foot on notre dames campus. thank you for putting it into words for me. and as of rite now im watching the fiesta bowl and ohio state is shalacking notre damne 21-7 :)