Early national champions

[ocmmafan]

Louisville accepts offer to join ACC...Holy fuck is the Big East turning to total shit. Not that it was anything special to begin with but with WVU, Pitt,Syracuse, and now Louisville all hitting the road, they are basically depleted.

EDIT: Just realized this was a National Championship thread, and not an all around college football thread like the Uptown thread in the NFL section lol.

They tried to make a basketball conference into a football conference and failed. They should have stuck with a focus on basketball or re-focused a few years ago. I think failing to get Notre Dame was a big problem and they probably always hoped that would work out.

[Straight_Crown]

They tried to make a basketball conference into a football conference and failed. They should have stuck with a focus on basketball or re-focused a few years ago. I think failing to get Notre Dame was a big problem and they probably always hoped that would work out.

But they knew going in that they wouldn't have Notre Dame. When ND joined the conference they had a stipulation in the contract stating that it would be for all sports except football. Which is bull****, IMO. You want to join a conference and receive all the benefits that comes with being a part of a major conference, then you should have to join for all sports. That's just another reason I hate ND. They have always had that "we're better than you" attitude about themselves, even though they haven't even been relevant in any major sport in 20 years.

[ocmmafan]

But they knew going in that they wouldn't have Notre Dame. When ND joined the conference they had a stipulation in the contract stating that it would be for all sports except football. Which is bull****, IMO. You want to join a conference and receive all the benefits that comes with being a part of a major conference, then you should have to join for all sports. That's just another reason I hate ND. They have always had that "we're better than you" attitude about themselves, even though they haven't even been relevant in any major sport in 20 years.

All the major college football programs are about money; Notre Dame just pulled off major television contracts before anyone else. Now, the Big-10 network, SEC network, etc, negotiated giant television contracts that dwarf Notre Dame and their TV contract looks like crap. Wait until they renogiate it. Notre Dame has their new deal with the ACC and like them or hate them, people are interested in them. I think they will play 5 football games against ACC teams starting in 2014.

More like 25 years of irrelevance......

[Straight_Crown]

All the major college football programs are about money; Notre Dame just pulled off major television contracts before anyone else. Now, the Big-10 network, SEC network, etc, negotiated giant television contracts that dwarf Notre Dame and their TV contract looks like crap. Wait until they renogiate it. Notre Dame has their new deal with the ACC and like them or hate them, people are interested in them. I think they will play 5 football games against ACC teams starting in 2014.

More like 25 years of irrelevance......

No I agree, they are a polarizing team, that's for sure. There are two types of fans; ones that LOVE Notre Dame, and ones that HATE them. So everyone watches them, whether it's to see them win or get the shit beat out of them. They are the NCAA's version of the Yankees.

[Baphomet3]

Yeah, not really. ND is better now than they've been in a decade and I still don't watch them or buy in the the media-driven hype surrounding their program. They've put together a nice team in 2012, but I don't give two shjts unless they're playing in a bowl game or against a Big XII team. Their helmets look like they were spray painted by a homeless kid.

[ocmmafan]

Yeah, not really. ND is better now than they've been in a decade and I still don't watch them or buy in the the media-driven hype surrounding their program. They've put together a nice team in 2012, but I don't give two shjts unless they're playing in a bowl game or against a Big XII team. Their helmets look like they were spray painted by a homeless kid.

You're in the heartland of college football though. People have lifetime allegiances to some of those programs and take it more seriously than the NFL. Where I am, all of a sudden everyone is a Notre Dame fan just like everyone is a Lakers fan depending on the year, etc. We must watch more TV or something because I heard or read Notre Dame viewership is up like 75% this year.

[Baphomet3]

Well, that is certainly a good point of context that I had not considered.

[sooner2]

ND does have a large following. The assumption, though, is that the following is loyal and always tuning in; whether ND is good or not. I can't quote exact #'s, but nbc viewership is definately up this year compared with last, which does suggest that either the core of ND is tempermental in their following and more likely to tune in when their team is good, or that the rest of the country is more interested in ND games. It's probably due to a combo of both.

As far as the "Yankee effect" of ND... I'd agree. I personally have grown up hating the Yankees and nd. Reasons for disliking nd is their "holier than thou" attitude, as well as manipulating the Big East for their other sports without being committed w fb, and (in the past) for their reliance on "maintaining traditional rivalries" primarily when it would mean a W. The other thing that always pissed me of was how nd fans (when nd was good) pound their chest and say, 'we win...and we do it with smart kids and doing things the right way!!". However, those same fans (from 1994-2011, when the team sucked) will say, "we would be great and be able to kick everyone's ass, but we have such hard admission standards...so even though we lose to the big programs, it doesn't matter.... because we make it so hard on ourselves with our admission standards..."

This year though, it's different; at least for me. My wife is a Domer, and as such, I've been watching their games for 3 years regularly. And this team is damn special. They play great defense. Great. They are great in the starting from 7 and have 4 quality backups. And Kelly has evolved away from some of his passhappy hurryup offensive schemes to be smart enough to rely on smashmouth running of the ball with great pulling from the O line. He's even limited passes to Eikert to use him on blocking schemes more. Not easy decisions to make; and definately admirable. I only wish that Stoops could assess and make such changes dependent on the personell in front of him at OU.

As such, even though I've always rooted against this school, and even though they soundly beat my OU team this year, this ND is worthy of respect. For me, it's kinda like those early 2000's yankee teams....workmanlike and non flashy. As such, I root for ND, never thinking I would; just as I rooted for those Yankee teams; even though I never thought I would.

[Straight_Crown]

I'm really diggin the uniforms Stanford is wearin tonight. Really like those flat-black helmets.

[ocmmafan]

Bama's offense was impressive and very balanced, but their defense has looked less dominate as of late. They play fast and keep the ball in front of them but they don't really get after the QB. Given one month to prepare I'm sure Saban will have a pretty aggressive scheme to shut down the Irish, but it should still be a great game.

WTF happened to Nebraska?? Wow. Just bitch slapped all over the field and it may bounce them right out of the BCS.