ND-Bama BCS title game

[rjortiz]

Originally Posted by Jasonbay44

^ I think Alabama is just REALLY, Really good.

Nope, the Irish suck.

[Jasonbay44]

Yeah, that's why they went undefeated and were ranked #1 heading into National Championship game.

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

/endthread

[rjortiz]

Originally Posted by Jasonbay44

Yeah, that's why they went undefeated and were ranked #1 heading into National Championship game.

How many games would they have lost in the SEC?

[Emmz]

It's impossible to tell by one game what their record would be in a different conference.

[Jasonbay44]

Originally Posted by Emmz

It's impossible to tell by one game what their record would be in a different conference.

This.

[jacksonianmarch]

Exactly. And take a look at who they beat. #7, #15, #24 in the final standings. They lost to #1

[Jasonbay44]

And the #1 team they lost to is absolutely insane with talent. They have so many guys going to the NFL this year its ridiculous. Dee Milliner, Eddy Lacey, Chance Warmack, Barrett Jones, DJ Fluker, Jesse Williams, Nico Johnson and Robert Lester are all projected to go in top 3 rounds of the NFL draft.

There would be even more guys projected to go in top 3 rounds if they decided to leave school, such as AJ McCarron, Kenny Bell and CJ Mosley.

Alabama is just ridiculous and I really doubt any team would of beat them Monday night and I fully expect them to be ranked #1 going into next year. McCaron is coming back, Yeldon might actually be better than Lacey (he ran for over 1000 yards as Lacey's backup) and that Amari Cooper had 1000 yards receiving as a freshmen. + Add in that Alabama has another insane recruiting class coming in, this team is going to be really good, AGAIN.

[yankees228]

Originally Posted by jacksonianmarch

Exactly. And take a look at who they beat. #7, #15, #24 in the final standings. They lost to #1

To be fair, Stanford (#7) played the entire game with their backup QB and Notre Dame won the game on what is widely regarded as an awful call. Also, it's always impressive to win in Norman, but this was a down year for Oklahoma. They lost to all three quality opponents (the AtM game was totally noncompetitive) and struggled against inferior opponents (WVU, Baylor, and the Pokes). And when you have to cite beating five loss Michigan as a reason why a team is really good it's probably best to rethink your position.

On top of all that Notre Dame struggled against one team clearly inferior to them (BYU) and two poor teams (PITT and Purdue), not to mention they only managed to find the end zone once against USC's horrible defense. When you only play three true road games and your resume consists of the above, regardless of your record, you might not be quite as good as your record would indicate. This speaks to the importance of focusing on the process rather than the result when evaluating teams, but that's a longer discussion, one that's unnecessary at the moment.

All in all I'd probably have them as the ninth best team in the country, behind Alabama, AtM, Oregon, UGA, Stanford, LSU, Florida, and SCAR. An excellent year, all things considered, but not as good as many believed prior to the BCSNCG and some likely still believe now.

[yankees228]

At the same time, JayBay is right, Alabama is an excellent team who played their most complete game of the year vs Notre Dame. Golson threw the ball 36 times (and had a few other drop backs) and the Alabama secondary didn't have a single coverage bust, a remarkable feat considering their performance vs LSU, AtM, and UGA. To that end, lots of credit to the coaches. It took them almost the entire season, but they finally found the right solutions at free safety (HaHa) and nickel corner (Geno Smith).

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

I've never been excited to see a Yankees fan but that has changed, holy shit he's alive!!!!!! Where the hell have you been?

[yankees228]

Originally Posted by RedSoxfanforlife305

I've never been excited to see a Yankees fan but that has changed, holy shit he's alive!!!!!! Where the hell have you been?

Haha nowhere special ... just realized I haven't been on here in awhile and figured I'd check in. How is it around here they days?

[Jasonbay44]

Originally Posted by yankees228

At the same time, JayBay is right, Alabama is an excellent team who played their most complete game of the year vs Notre Dame. Golson threw the ball 36 times (and had a few other drop backs) and the Alabama secondary didn't have a single coverage bust, a remarkable feat considering their performance vs LSU, AtM, and UGA. To that end, lots of credit to the coaches. It took them almost the entire season, but they finally found the right solutions at free safety (HaHa) and nickel corner (Geno Smith).

Along with Notre Dame having Golson throw too much and once again completely ignoring one of the more explosive backs in the nation in Cierre Wood, the other thing I thought that was stupid is they kept targeting Dee Milliner. Milliner is the best corner in the nation and is flying up draft boards and people think he is going to be a top 10 pick. If you are going to try throwing the ball deep and toss up jump ball opportunities, why would you target the best corner in the nation? Especially considering Notre Dame doesn't really have a great #1 WR.

Not that it would of mattered much, they weren't winning that game either way. I just thought Notre Dames offensive game plan was pretty bad.

Oh well, at least with Notre Dame losing and Teo struggling he is falling on draft boards, maybe the Steelers can pick him up now @ 17.

[Emmz]

One really poor performance just doesn't make them a crappy team. The argument isn't that ND is the best, because they definitely aren't, but they still went undefeated and beat a few good team along the way, so they certainly don't suck as rjortiz was suggesting.

I think maybe they lose a couple of games more in the SEC, but there's no telling whether the egg they laid against Bama was a fluke or if they would consistently be blown out by top-tier teams.

I like their defense with Manti Te'o plenty, he really looks like a good prospect for almost any type of NFL defensive scheme.

[Emmz]

Want Te'o in purple next year.