Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1143622
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com AUGUST 2019 9 UNDER THE DOME 2 Former Notre Dame women's basketball guards were named starters for the WNBA All- Star Game in Las Vegas July 27: Las Vegas' Kayla McBride (2010-14) and Seattle's Jewell Loyd (2012-15), the No. 1 overall pick after her junior season in 2015. Fans comprise 50 percent of the vote to determine the starters, while current WNBA players and media account for 25 percent each. 2.16 Percent chance of Notre Dame to win the 2019 College Football Playoff, per the July updated data from BetOnline Sportsbook. Alabama and Clemson — which have split the last four national titles — are tied at No. 1 (22.59), with Georgia (9.18 percent) a distant third and Ohio State (6.67) edging out Oklahoma (5.65) for the fourth spot. 3 Teams in the 130-team Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) — Notre Dame, UCLA and USC — that have never played a Football Championship Subdivi- sion (FCS) school through 2018. That number will fall to two in 2021 because the Trojans have added FCS member UC Davis to their non-conference schedule that year. 10 & 25 This June, two different NFL mock drafts had two different Notre Dame defensive ends selected in the first round of the 2020 draft. CBS Sports analyst Will Brinson had senior JULIAN OKWARA at No. 10 overall, while Walt Cherepinsky, the president of Walter Football, placed senior Khalid Kareem at No. 25 overall. Inconsistencies in these rankings aside, it's not inconceivable that for the first time since 1978 Notre Dame, with Ross Browner (first round) and Wil- lie Fry (second round), could have two "bookends" from the same class drafted in the first two rounds. 37 National ranking of Notre Dame senior cornerback Troy Pride Jr., on the "Freaks List" in college football, authored by Bruce Feld- man of The Athletic. A bona fide All-America candidate this year for the Fighting Irish, Pride gave up his track career this spring to concentrate fully on football. The former South Carolina state champion in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter (twice) races also was a regular in the ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships, and was clocked at 4.32 sec- onds in the 40-yard dash this spring. 111 "Experience Ranking" of Notre Dame on its two- deep offense and defense per PhilSteele.com, which also publishes an annual college football preview magazine. This is based on a point system on how much playing experience there is. Bad news? Not really when you consider that the two superpowers of this decade, Alabama and Clemson, were tied at No. 101, while the fourth College Football Playoff team from last year, Okla- homa, is No. 103. As for the top 15, it is comprised of: Air Force, Navy, SMU, Kansas, Army, Louisiana Tech, UTEP, New Mexico, Louisiana Monroe, Mississippi State, Hawai'i, Mar- shall, North Texas, Arkansas State and Texas San Antonio. 410.50 Points scored by Notre Dame to finish No. 9 in CBS Sports' Best In College Sports, with Michigan (501.75) edging Ken- tucky (494.25) and Oklahoma (490.0) for the top spot. CBS Sports rated all 130 FBS schools in three sports — football, men's basketball and women's basketball — along with two "wild cards" among the school's most successful sports that could include baseball, hockey, soccer, wrestling and lacrosse, among others. The formula put 2.5 times as much emphasis on football and two times the emphasis on men's basketball compared to women's basketball and the wild card sports. Among 15 Atlantic Coast Conference schools, Notre Dame finished behind only No. 6 Virginia (432.50). ✦ BY THE NUMBERS PHOTO BY ANGELA DRISKELL