[xdavidwattsx]

Food for thought. In the last few decades, has a team received more recognition and had less success than the Notre Dame Fighting Irish?

[rmjvol]

Welcome to GoTeamsGo, xdavidwattsx. Nothing like jumping in head 1st, eh?

I think it depends on your definition of successful. The ND football program is certainly is one of the top programs of all time with a long history. But like every other major college football program, ND has had it's ups & downs.

No, they've not won it all since Lou Holtz but I'd say they had some nice success this year.

We also had an interesting piece about ND players in the SuperBowl. 32 players in SuperBowls, obviously they're producing talented players. That's got to be one measure of success. Any other football programs produce that many SuperBowl players?

[xdavidwattsx]

Originally Posted by rmjvol

Welcome to GoTeamsGo, xdavidwattsx. Nothing like jumping in head 1st, eh?

I think it depends on your definition of successful. The ND football program is certainly is one of the top programs of all time with a long history. But like every other major college football program, ND has had it's ups & downs.

No, they've not won it all since Lou Holtz but I'd say they had some nice success this year.

We also had an interesting piece about ND players in the SuperBowl. 32 players in SuperBowls, obviously they're producing talented players. That's got to be one measure of success. Any other football programs produce that many SuperBowl players?

It's a tough call, no doubt. One had to wonder how far history can carry you for a 10 year exclusive contract with NBC. In the last two decades, sans the National Championship, Notre Dame hasn't even been able to carry the jock straps of the Hurricanes or even Florida State.

[rmjvol]

Originally Posted by xdavidwattsx

In the last two decades, sans the National Championship, Notre Dame hasn't even been able to carry the jock straps of the Hurricanes or even Florida State.

Better over the past 20 yrs? Sure, I'll agree. Not worthy to carry their jocks? Disagree.

1986-2005 Winning Percentage Notre Dame: 69%
1986-2005 Winning Percentage Florida State: 83%
1986-2005 Winning Percentage Miami Canes: 83%

Perfect Seasons 86-05: ND 1, FSU 1, Miami 3

I'm not gonna bite on the "sans the national championship" part. It is no small feat to win a title or go undefeated. That's a big part of the history for any team that makes the accomplishment.

ND had 2 crappy years under Ty Willingham and 3 under Bob Davie. Instead of taking out the national championship, how about we take out those 5 crappy years? The stats would be alot closer then.

[anrobins]

Regardless of what one thinks, tradition cannot be taken out of the equation. There is always the threat, Notre Dame has always had it, even with some of the coaches that preceded Weis. It is a game that teams treat differently, for which they get up. When this happens it is hard to make a case that a team is overrated. It would take many more lean years, and that doesn't seem to be the case. They're doing what a strong program does, moving on and buidling the aura of Notre Dame Football.

[DevilintheDetails]

Notre Dame = national cachet and big $$$ for TV. What other team in college football came honestly claim that?

[Lefty Noob]

I agree 100% with anrobins on this one. Notre Dame's outstanding legacy as a gridiron power is part of what makes them so popular today.

No other team has won more Associated Press titles [8] since the press agency started certifying the results of their poll in 1936. Only USC and Oklahoma [5] have won more Coaches' Poll titles than the Irish [3] since it started back in 1950. And while the results vary depending upon the source, Notre Dame is generally recognized as being an 11 time consensus National Champion and can lay claim to at least a share of the title in 19 different seasons.

If you include all of the legendary players and coaches that have been a part of the program, not to mention the rest of the team's history and lore ["Touchdown Jesus", the "Play Like A Champion Today" sign, etc.] and the fact that the Irish football team exudes a "love 'em or hate 'em" mentality rivaled only by the Yankees, and there's little doubt as to why this team receives all of the attention it does.

Originally Posted by xdavidwattsx

Food for thought. In the last few decades, has a team received more recognition and had less success than the Notre Dame Fighting Irish?

Notre Dame is the most sickening team in the country. If they want to win a bowl game the first thing they should be made to do is join a conference and earn one. Notre Dame fans want to act so surprised when the don't when a bowl. Wahhhh. If you actually earned a bowl maybe you would win a bowl. Also, maybe if you joined a conference you would quit taking bowls away from the Big East teams. Ya'll just need to get over it. You are just like Alabama. When are you gonna realize you are NOT the team you once were. There are better teams out there now and people have stopped giving a crap about Notre Who?

The bottom line is ND is basking in the glory years of 1920-1990. Over the last 50 years, ND is ranked #13 in winnig percentage. They have only won 5 bowl games in the last 20 years. They have lost a record 9 straight bowl games. They have consistantly been BLOWN OUT against top 10 teams. Everyone and their litle brrother knows ND gets the NBC contract and BCS bids because of money and money only. They have not anything in the last 10 plus years to merit talk of them being an elite program. And there is no signs of them getting there anytime soon. Those are the simple facts. Weis's ego will keep ND from becomming an elite program. The fake punt is a perfect example, as is the fact he has yet to recruit studs on defense. Get used to beating up on the Army's, Navy's, and Stanford's of the world while getting by the Michigan's and USC's.

[Gotham Dark Knight]

Originally Posted by Honest Abe

The bottom line is ND is basking in the glory years of 1920-1990. Over the last 50 years, ND is ranked #13 in winnig percentage. They have only won 5 bowl games in the last 20 years. They have lost a record 9 straight bowl games. They have consistantly been BLOWN OUT against top 10 teams. Everyone and their litle brrother knows ND gets the NBC contract and BCS bids because of money and money only. They have not anything in the last 10 plus years to merit talk of them being an elite program. And there is no signs of them getting there anytime soon. Those are the simple facts. Weis's ego will keep ND from becomming an elite program. The fake punt is a perfect example, as is the fact he has yet to recruit studs on defense. Get used to beating up on the Army's, Navy's, and Stanford's of the world while getting by the Michigan's and USC's.

ND's record aside...TV contracts and BCS bids are always going to be based somewhat on what revenue the team can generate...so that's nothing knew or ND's fault for that matter.

[EmpireWF]

What other schools SHOULD do to force Notre Dame's hand a bit is refuse to book games against them. So all the big SEC, ACC, Pac-10, you name it, just don't schedule Notre Dame. That will cause ND to HAVE to join a conference if they want to play in the BCS.

But anyway, ND played awful last night and showed they probably didn't even belong in the BCS. Did Brady Quinn hurt his draft stock? Probably not.

[mackeson71]

OMG!!! How can anyone say that ND is not overrated. GEEZ---They have their own criteria for the BSC system. Let's make all independents equal. ND did not even come close in deserving a BCS bid. It wasn't even close. But hey, let ND in these games. I enjoyed beating the crap out of the Irish last night, although it really wasn't much of an accomplishment, it was only Notre Dame. Not that it matters now, but our strength of schedule didn't improve.
Mark Schlabach of ESPN said it best:
"Against LSU, Notre Dame once again proved it doesn't deserve to play in BCS bowl games, which have become its birthright because of the school's national stature and ability to draw high TV ratings.


And by shutting out the Fighting Irish in the second half and erupting for 577 yards of offense in the game, the Tigers again proved Notre Dame is no longer capable of beating teams like LSU. Or Ohio State, Michigan and Southern California, which also handed the Fighting Irish lopsided losses in the past 12 months. "
Here is the entire article:
ESPN.com - NCF/BOWLS06 - Schlabach: Notre Dame shows it doesn't belong in BCS bowls

[AZAggie]

Sooner or later, the pollsters and BCS officials have got to realize that ND is living solely on its past reputation. They have not had a really good team in several years. They did not deserve a #2 preseason ranking, and it was that ranking that kept them in position to obtain another tainted and unworthy BCS bid. Yet another reason preseason polls need to be done away with.

[Lefty Noob]

After the way Notre Dame has played in the past two years, I fully expect this movement to catch steam. They should NOT, in any way shape for form, have a free ride into the BCS. An independant, to be an at-large, should be ranked high enough to earn that pick, just like any Big Ten, ACC or SEC team would. And while we're on the subject, can we please get rid of the limits placed on how many teams a conference can have in the BCS? If 3 or 4 of the best teams in the country are from the same conference, then they're from the same conference. Live with it.

[cwstech]

I agree with Lefty. I don't think that a team should be allowed a free ride based on name alone. Notre Dame travels well wich equals more money for the BCS which is a big factor no matter what the BCS gurus say.

But if you look at their schedule, they didn't beat a solid good team this year. The closest was Georgia Tech which was terrible at the end of the season. Penn State is not what it used to be, so that would be a solid opponent. They barely beat UCLA, and that game was at ND. And they lost to Michigan, USC, LSU. Which are all BCS teams. None of the teams that they beat finished within in the top 25, and the ones that beat them were all in the top 10. Which proves that they cannot beat the elite. Only the teams that can beat the elite should be in the BCS.