Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME What would be deemed a good season for the Notre Dame football team in 2012? How about a top-25 finish for the first time since 2006? CRACK TOP 25? CAN IRISH com's Mark Schlabach put the Irish at No. 24 — but dropped them out of the top 25 after freshman defen- sive end Aaron Lynch opted to transfer to South Florida. Schlabach also had five Irish opponents ahead of them: USC (2), Oklahoma (6), Michigan (9), Michigan State (11) and Stanford (12). Athlon Sports seemed to be the most optimistic about With five straight seasons (2007-11) of having at least five losses and not placing in the final top 25, the Irish are one short of tying the school record of six straight from 1981-86. SI.com didn't have the Irish in its top 30 and ESPN. head coach Brian Kelly's third season, placing the Irish 20th while naming linebacker Manti Te'o and tight end Tyler Eifert first-team Americans. "Although this isn't necessarily a crossroads season for "If they think we're going to be decent, they'll put us in the top six. "If they think we've got a chance to be good, we'll be in the top 10. "If they think we're not going to be that good, they'll put us in the top 15." "And if they think we're going to be horrendous, they'll put us somewhere between 15 and 20." For the record, 2011 preseason rankings of the Irish included No. 6 by both Athlon and Phil Steele's 2012 Col- lege Football Preview, No. 17 by ESPN, No. 18 by Sporting News and No. 19 by Lindy's. Flying south for the winter? DON'T MISS AN ISSUE OF Moving? Kelly since Notre Dame seems committed to his renova- tion project, the 2012 campaign will go a long way to- ward determining how good the Irish can be in 2013-14," Athlon summarized. "There are too many holes/question marks to look at this season as anything but a transitional year under Kelly. "Find a consistent quarterback and show improve- Let our customer service department know your new address! ment, and regardless of the record, Kelly should ap- proach a combined 20 victories in 2013-14. Fall flat and continue to struggle protecting the football and the regime could be in jeopardy." Prior to the 1988 national title season, when only the top 20 teams were ranked, third-year Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz gave a primer on preseason rankings involving the Irish. "If they think we're going to be good, they'll put us in the top three. JUNE/JULY 2012 31 or email gevans@comanpub.com Call us 1-800-421-7751 nov. 15, 2010 • $3.50 volume 30 • issue 9 • est. 1981 Notre Dame's 23-man, top-10 recruiting class spans the nation ALL-AMERICAN HAUL Left to right: stephon tuitt, george Atkinson iii, Josh Atkinson, Anthony Rabasa AND Matt Hegarty volume 30 • issue 15 • est. 1981 march 2011 • $3.50 VISIT US ONLINE AT WWW.BLUEANDGOLD.COM