Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/608448
FAN FORUM Mr. Findlay, well it looks like you've an- swered your own question by quoting from one of our favorite movies. If you claim to strive for excellence, as the University of Notre Dame does, then you "dare to be great" and give yourself a chance in the College Football Playoff, no matter what the outcome. An opportunity doesn't come like that often, so you have to seize it. Think about this: If someone would have told you after the 1989 Fiesta Bowl victory that Notre Dame wouldn't win another national title in the next 26 years, would you have believed him? You can't take it for granted. We understand where you're coming from regarding the New Year's Six ques- tion, though. The last time Notre Dame has won a major bowl was during the 1993 season, and that's a preposterous drought for this school. Prior to the start of the 2015 campaign, we defined a "successful season" as one where the Irish could at least win a major bowl, because it hasn't been done for so long. A 10-2 record? Been there, done that since 1994. Going to major bowls? Been there, done that. Playing in the national title game? Been there, done that. Winning a major bowl for the first time since 1993? Haven't been there. Need to do that. Still, given the choice without knowing the outcome, you always need to shoot for the stars if you want to be Notre Dame. FROM THE WEBSITE Hundreds of reactions came Nov. 24 when Notre Dame fell from No. 4 to No. 6 in the College Football Playoff selection committee rankings after barely defeating 3‑8 Boston College, 19‑16. Many said they could see it coming and by not closing strong the Irish can blame only themselves. Others contend there is an inherent bias. Here's a small sample from BlueandGold.com: Michbocc: If the Irish don't make it, its been a good, enjoyable season, but they have no one to blame except themselves. They could have beaten Clemson on the road and this all would be moot. As it stands, the two best wins are Temple and Navy. While both may be very good teams this year, they just don't have the cache to help the Irish's cause. Oldbender: I have made the point all year that there is no way a one loss ND team will make the play‑ offs, no matter what their scores are. Early rankings mean nothing. Now come the ones that count. You look at the make up of the committee and there are zero ND allies there. In fact, I could point out several members who would clearly have an axe to grind with ND. Also, I'm sure you're read the constant harping about ND's schedule and how they should either get all in the ACC or forget about being compared to conference teams. That's been a constant theme for months. A lot here talk about ND's close win hurting them, and that's logical. But the Okies make a huge jump with a one‑point victory over a TCU team decimated by injuries. No, there are few in college football today that will do ND any favors and none of them are on the "committee." EPdoc: They did exactly what they said … they moved us down so they don't have to do it after we beat Stanford. JCrone031: This has way less to do with our performance against BC and way more to the committee giving the Big 12 a ton of credit now.