Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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THE FIFTH QUARTER LOU SOMOGYI were better." If Notre Dame runs the table in November — which would be a re‑ markable accomplishment — there is a chance it might be the lone team in the top 25 without a win over a ranked team by the time the College Football Playoff selections are announced on Dec. 7. The early message from the selection committee is that a quality win over a currently ranked team outweighs a "good loss." Outwardly, Notre Dame might have gained more respect from that defeat at Tallahassee, Fla., than it did in any victory since vanquishing Florida State in 1993, but it wasn't mani‑ fested in the first poll. There are two ways to look at it. First, objectively it is accurate that no Irish victory this year merits Col‑ lege Football Playoff conversation. Michigan has become a train wreck, Stanford, after an amazing 46‑8 run from 2010‑13, is beginning to "come back to its mean" — although its own blown coverage on fourth‑and‑11 al‑ lowed for an 11th‑hour Irish win — and North Carolina is nowhere near its preseason top‑25 projection (in‑ cluding No. 16 by ESPN.com). Notre Dame, in a way, might be sub‑ tly suffering from not even having won a major bowl since 1993. Conversely, is Michigan State's vic‑ tory at home against a ranked Nebraska team more impressive than Notre Dame defeating Stanford? Was its 46‑27 loss at Oregon more "impressive" than the Irish setback at FSU? Did the Spar‑ tans have a true "intent" to upgrade their schedule with Jacksonville State, Eastern Michigan and Wyoming? How about TCU scheduling Samford (sounds like Stanford, at least), or Kan‑ sas State with Stephen F. Austin and UTEP? Kelly is correct, though. There is way too much football to be played in No‑ vember and December. Last year in late October, Auburn was No. 11, and ad‑ vanced to the final two, never mind fi‑ nal four. Michigan State, which finished No. 3, wasn't even ranked. Two years ago, Irish followers were bemoaning the possibility that Kansas State and Oregon were going to win out and play for the national title. In the end, the problem was Kansas State wasn't Notre Dame's foe in the BCS Na‑ tional Championship Game. Next year might be even more inter‑ esting because with most everyone on the two deep scheduled to return for the Irish, plus the projected comeback of cornerback KeiVarae Russell, Notre Dame likely will be the projected fa‑ vorite in every game, including versus rebuilding Texas at home in the opener. There are two morals to this story. One, never judge a football schedule's "toughness" based on preseason per‑ ceptions. Second, never do any hand‑wringing in late October about rankings. Take care of your own business at hand, and eventually the profits should come. If not, it will be a banner year among conspiracy theorists. ✦ Senior Editor Lou Somogyi has been at Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 1985. He can be reached at lsomogyi@blueandgold.com