Walt, I was wondering what your forcast for Notre Dame is this season. Sometimes in my own predictions I get stuck in a rut because of my favoritism to a team and way overshoot their predicted win total (13-3 Cowboys in 2004) so I was wondering if I was being too big of a homer to predict Notre Dame to go undefeated this season.
@ Georgia Tech: W 27-17, 1-0
The Yellow Jackets are a really tough team and I think that they are going to appear in the ACC Championship Game but I predict the Irish to win.
Penn State: W 31-21, 2-0
Penn State's Big Ten Championship speaks for itself but they are very young and the game is in South Bend so the Irish win big.
Michigan: W 38-20, 3-0
The Wolverines are good, but can they win in South Bend? Absolutely not.
@ Michigan State: W 41-17, 4-0
ND will be looking for revenge after that debacle last year. We win big against Michigan State.
Purdue: W 38-10, 5-0
Purdue is going to suck this year.
Stanford: W 35-17, 6-0
The Cardinal (does anyone know why their nickname is "The Cardinal" rather than the "The Cardinals"?) gave us a tough fight in the last game last year but this one is in South Bend and it isnt the last game of the season so we pull away.
UCLA: W 55-31, 7-0
UCLA has a great offense but we can outgun them in a shootout in South Bend.
@ Navy: W 48-24, 8-0
The Midshipmen havent beaten us since Roger Staubach was their quarterback. It wont change now that the Irish have National Title aspirations.
North Carolina: W 52-14, 9-0
The Tar Heels are not even worthy of playing us.
@ Air Force: W 37-17, 10-0
It must be a soothing thought to Charlie Weis that we have Navy, North Carolina, and Air Force all in a row.
Army: W 66-13, 11-0
AND Army! We cruise to the Service Academy sweep.
@ USC: W 41-34, 12-0
Now here is the big one. This could be for a berth in the Championship game. I think we can beat the Leinart-less, Bush-less, White-less Trojans.
Good. I was worried that I was just being blind by picking them to go undefeated. They really have quite a tough schedule. Georgia Tech, Penn State, Michigan, UCLA, and USC are all teams that could win their conference title. If we go undefeated then we would deserve the #1 ranking.
Why didn't Stanford go with the Reds then? Its just kind of an odd nickname.
I anxiously await that game. If it was at Penn State, then I think yall would have a good shot at us but at Notre Dame stadium, I dont think that we will lose.
I agree on both counts. Jimmy Clausen is going to be a great player but in his freshman year I dont think that he would be able to beat Penn State at Penn State.
I think the same thing goes for Anthony Morelli. He has looked great in practice, and I think he's going to be a great quarterback, but Notre Dame is his first road start in his collegiate career. That's just too tough.
Agreed. I would love to see a Morelli-Clausen, Penn State-Notre Dame National Championship in a couple years.
By the way, did you watch the Orange Bowl between Penn State and Florida State last year? I know you boycott the BCS, but since you're a Penn State alum I was wondering if you made an exception for that game.
I didn't really have a choice. I was covering that game, and had to write about it for the Centre Daily Times. But being a Penn State fan, you're right, I would have watched it anyway.
I also watched the National Championship, simply because it was my job to know what happened.
But you're right -- I didn't watch a second of the other Bowl Games.
I wish I had your stamina. When I heard about your boycott I was planning on joining in but then New Years came and I wasn't doing anything and I just couldn't help myself.
It's really getting out of hand. Unfortunately, I don't think there will be a playoff system anytime soon. That's why I'll continue to run a mock college football playoff on my Web site every year.
I think that once enough colleges get screwed out of an opportunity to play for the championship, the presidents will eventually change it to a playoff system. However, that could be 20 years down the road.
They added a fifth game? What bowl game did they adopt, the Cotton Bowl?
What a stupid idea. One of the redeeming qualities about it last year was that the Longhorns went to the Rose Bowl back-to-back years and won it each year. This makes the BCS even worse.
It really is ridiculous. But I don't think the college presidents are going to change the system anytime soon. There's just too much money to be earned with the current system.
