APYou know the story by now. Undefeated Notre Dame survived the 2012 regular season and is No. 1 in both the Associated Press and USA Today coaches’ polls. But it’s the BCS rankings that matter, and the Irish hold down the No. 1 spot in the latest BCS rankings. There’s still one more week in this college football season, but Notre Dame is unofficially in the BCS championship game at this point.
Who Notre Dame will play in the BCS championship is a simple problem to figure out as well.
Alabama and Georgia, as expected, come in at No. 2 and No. 3, meaning the SEC championship game will essentially serve as a national semifinal. Florida is No. 4 after a win over rival Florida State. Provided there’s no arbitrary shakeup, the Gators will move up to No. 3 in the BCS after next week and will head to a BCS bowl. That should also be the case for No. 5 Oregon. The Ducks are a likely at-large selection for the Fiesta Bowl.
Kansas State, LSU, Stanford, Texas A&M and South Carolina round out the BCS top 10.
As for another — and possibly final — BCS at-large spot, pay close attention to Kent State at No. 17. The Golden Flashes need to move up just one spot to No. 16 to receive an automatic berth in a BCS bowl since no champion from the Big East, one of the six automatic qualifier conferences, will be ranked ahead of KSU at the end of the season. There is, however, a sizable gap between KSU and UCLA in the BCS averages, so a top 16 ranking isn’t guaranteed even if UCLA loses the Pac-12 championship game.
Kent State will play No. 21 Northern Illinois in the MAC championship this weekend.
4 teams lost, but didn’t drop a single spot?
Sorry, 3 teams.
I get it…Texas gets beaten up by TCU at home and they only drop a couple of spots, UCLA gets embarassed at home by Stanford and they GO UP a spot, Michigan gets beat and stays the same. Is anybody really watching these games?
Notre Dame survived???? They played all top level teams not Little Sisters of the Poor! I’ve got news for all of you Notre Dame haters – any team that schedules Notre Dame feels that it is one of the highlights of their season regardless of the Irish relevancy!!!
Give credit where credit is due – Notre Dame had a hell of a regular season!!!!!
SJSU
Stanford over UCLA
Kansas State over Texas
Kent State over NIU
That’s all it takes for a UF Rutgers/Louisville Sugar bowl and a Florida State Kent State Orange Bowl
Going to be fun to watch the rest of the country decide who they hate more, ND or the SEC.
ND
Will the SEC secede if ND wins?
ND would be the 7th best team in the SEC.
ND fans, Have fun with either Bama or the Dawgs. You will lose to either of them badly. You would also lose to the Gators, South Carolina, Texas A&M and LSU.
ND ran the table on a relatively weak schedule.
This is a team that squeaked by a Michigan team at home that was crushed by the Tide on a neutral site.
Simply put, ND doesn’t have the athletes to hang for 60 minutes with a battle tested SEC team.
ND’s pending humiliation in the title game will certainly help out those advocating a playoff.
If Alabama wins the SEC, I root for ND. If Georgia wins the SEC, I root for Georgia.
normtide says:
Nov 25, 2012 9:23 PM
Going to be fun to watch the rest of the country decide who they hate more, ND or the SEC.
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It would be more fun to have Bama fans like you watching the NC game at home with the rest of us….where you should have been last year. #Karma
Its a shame youre not playing Texas A&M for the SEC Championship Game. Johnny Football could use the stat padding for the bronze statue.
Tlmoon- that’s a lot of hate. Maybe something good will happen in your life soon. We are all rooting for you, buddy.
I’m a Syracuse fan so yeahhhhh they suck but as a football fan there is no possible way I can give nd a fighting chance against any team in top 7 besides maybe Florida
Recommended reading:
“SEC rout of Notre Dame far from guaranteed”
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ncaaf–sec-rout-of-notre-dame-far-from-guaranteed-205348035.html;_ylt=Ao8hJasvjC2lu8Z3ZtNeencp1LYF
@ sec fans and people that mistakenly think Alabama and Georgia ran some ridiculous gauntlet to make it to the SEC championship game, while Notre Dame played a soft schedule:
Yes, the SEC is far and away the most dominant conference in college football with six teams in the top 10.
BUT, remember that both Georgia and Alabama each only played TWO of those top 10 teams, and they each went 1-1 in those games. They both had easy relatively conference schedules by not having to play any of the difficult teams in the opposite division. So before we go praising Bama and Georgia for coming out of the most difficult conference with six top 10 teams, remember that they each only beat ONE of those top 10 teams.
Notre Dame also beat one top ten team, Stanford, and #11 Oklahoma.
I don’t believe a team that has lost at home during the season, especially getting badly outplayed at home by Texas A&M in that homeloss should ever be considered for the National Championship game. It is just wrong in every sense. It is nothing against Alabama personally.
They badly beat Florida Atlantic (3-8), Tennessee (5-7), Arkansas (4-8), Western Carolina (1-10), Auburn (3-9), Missouri (5-7) – all 6 teams with losing records plus a 7th week team, Western Kentucky (6-6).
They only played 5 teams with a better than .500 record and they lost to one of them. What is that? That is not a super impressive team. That is not a National Championship worthy record – again getting outplayed and beaten at home against Texas A&M. The system is completely out of wack for this to happen.
What happens to the loser of the Ala, Ga game?
LMFAO. I predict in mid-January all the ND fans will be blaming the computers and the BCS system for the uneven and unfair national championship system and ask Obama to step in a la Ohio State.
@Duklover
I think there is an ACC tie in bowl somewhere. It’s kinda hard to find with all the cash flying around…
Ok. So we’ll have two teams in the championship that worked thru relatively not so difficult schedules overall. I can’t wait for truev16 team playoffs. Real playoffs work very well in the lower divisions.
Most have to admit Southern Cal played a great game for a backup QB.And if thats all ND has to dish out then imo they better be looking for other means as deflate the air out of the footballs.
nuggets43 says:
Nov 25, 2012 11:45 PM
@ sec fans and people that mistakenly think Alabama and Georgia ran some ridiculous gauntlet to make it to the SEC championship game, while Notre Dame played a soft schedule:
Yes, the SEC is far and away the most dominant conference in college football with six teams in the top 10.
BUT, remember that both Georgia and Alabama each only played TWO of those top 10 teams, and they each went 1-1 in those games. They both had easy relatively conference schedules by not having to play any of the difficult teams in the opposite division. So before we go praising Bama and Georgia for coming out of the most difficult conference with six top 10 teams, remember that they each only beat ONE of those top 10 teams.
Notre Dame also beat one top ten team, Stanford, and #11 Oklahoma.
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I wish that I could give this a thousand thumbs up.
Thank you good sir.
Sorry good people been taking care of family business this week end with a new baby to attend to. That said got to see what I could anyway on the hospital tv those things suck by the way. In my opinion the sec proved it is the big dog by barring the acc rivals. Congrats to nd great season u do deserve to play in the nc. Im going on record that I like the dawgs in the sec championship nothing against Bama they are a good team but I like the dawgs rb, qb, wr, and defense more than Bama and they are rolling along. That said I respect the coach down at Bama way more so it will be close but I think the dawgs win by 3 points. In the national championship the early line has the dawgs favored by 3 and Bama by 7. I like the sec champ to win if it’d Bama by 3 if its the dawgs by a lot more 7 to 10. Just the way I see it.
Does anyone above the #10 position want to play Texas A&M?
Any one who follows college baseball or basketball knows that being undefeated means nothing with regards to winning a NC. The only undefeated teams that went in to the playoffs rarely ever succeeded. The vast majority failed. The same can be said with professional football or professional baseball. Being undefeated only means something if you are in the best division or conference.
A two loss team in the SEC would beat an undefeated team in the PAC12, Big 10, Big12, Big East, ACC or independent. In other words TAM, LSU or South Carolina would beat ND, Oregon, Ohio State or KSU team. The SEC totally dominates recruiting and controls 43% of the States that produce division one players. They have more revenue, more expenditures, higher coaches and assistant salaries, better infrastructure and are by far according to Nielsen the highest viewed conference on TV.
The gap between the SEC and the others is increasing not decreasing. Six of the top 10 teams in the BCS rankings are SEC teams. Any one of those teams could and probably would beat any team outside of the SEC. But due to parity in the conference the two loss teams can beat any one loss team on a given day which makes the whole poll voting ridiculous. Playoffs will accelerate the SEC total dominance but how about next year when two mediocre teams from one of the other conferences goes undefeated. The whole thing is hopeless if you want to always choose the best team.
nuggets43 says:
Nov 25, 2012 11:45 PM
@ sec fans and people that mistakenly think Alabama and Georgia ran some ridiculous gauntlet to make it to the SEC championship game, while Notre Dame played a soft schedule:
Yes, the SEC is far and away the most dominant conference in college football with six teams in the top 10.
BUT, remember that both Georgia and Alabama each only played TWO of those top 10 teams, and they each went 1-1 in those games. They both had easy relatively conference schedules by not having to play any of the difficult teams in the opposite division. So before we go praising Bama and Georgia for coming out of the most difficult conference with six top 10 teams, remember that they each only beat ONE of those top 10 teams.
Notre Dame also beat one top ten team, Stanford, and #11 Oklahoma.
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blah blah blah….this argument is extremely old. The vast majority of times when the SEC top tier teams meet another OOC top tier team, they DESTROY them. That’s called proof in the pudding for all you left behind haters. Your tit for tat argument is nothing short of ponderous nuggets43.
Regardless, ND has earned the right to meet the SEC winner in Miami and get the snot beat out of them. You can set your clocks to this. And then thankfully, Manti Teo can ride off into the sunset and I won’t have to hear his name any longer.
Again,
I love how people use irrelevant stats to determine which team is better. Irrelevant Stat number 1 = strength of Schedule. There is only one true way to determine if team x is better than team y and that is head to head. Anything else is speculative at best.
Now if we are arguing that ND deserves to be in the National Championship over anybody else the question is easy. They did only what 1 other team was able to do in the FBS, win all their games. Of course they belong there.
On the other hand, if we are trying to argue that ND has a chance against team x, simply because they beat 1 team in the top 10 and another team ranked 11, or that they had a more difficult road to get there is stupid and an asinine assumption IMHO. 1 has absolutely nothing to do with the other. Now I’ve watched ND play in two games, PiTT and Stanford. ND had more points at the end; however Pitt and Stanford played a better game. ND did what it does best, finding a way to win.
I believe that Alabama and UGA will be very tough for ND, not because they are SEC teams, not because they play an SEC Schedule, not because they are blah blah blah, but only because I don’t believe ND’s offense will have any type of success against those defenses. SEC Defenses are big tough and fast, they are used to running QBs, they both have secondary’s and LBs that can cover 1 on 1, leaving the safety’s for either blitzing or confusing the coverage. ND’s defense can hang with anyone; they will have success against both UGA and Alabama. However I do believe that ND’s offense will be severely overmatched and that will be the difference in the game. Just my opinion.
People that say notre dame doesnt have the athletes to compete are being nieve or they just havent watched the irish play. You say well they were out played in a couple games but guess what they WON and thats more then you can say about every other team but one. Notre Dame took the 1 of the heisman finalists and the best reciever in the country and only gave up one big play that didnt result in a touchdown. ND will be able to do enough on offense and there defense will be able to take care of either offense thats playing in the sec championship. Go Irish beat the SEC!!!
NOTRE DAME.
someone was asking about next years schedule in relation to what 2012 was for the three teams in contention for the bcs(bs) championship..here they are:
alabama’s sched for 2013:
8/31 VaTech(6-6)@Georgia Dome
9/7 Open (was Georgia Tech, game cancelled)
9/14 @ Texas A&M(10-2)
9/21 Open or TBA
9/28 Ole Miss(6-6)
10/5 Georgia St(1-10 in FCS)
10/12 @Kentucky(1-11)
10/19 Arkansas(4-8)
10/26 Tennessee(5-7)
11/2 Open
11/9 LSU(10-2)
11/16 @Mississippi St(8-4)
11/23 Chattonooga (6-5 in FCS)
11/30 @Auburn (3-9)
will feature five bowl teams, and five teams with losing records. third year straight they not play any of the sec east powers in Florida, Georgia or South Carolina during regular season. SEC continues with 8 game conference schedule.
2013 Notre Dame schedule:
8/31 Temple (4-7)
9/7 @Michigan (8-4)
9/14 @Purdue (6-6)
9/21 Michigan State (7-5)
9/28 Oklahoma(9-2, one game left vs TCU)
10/5 Arizona St (7-5) @Arlington TX
10/12 Open Date
10/19 USC (7-5)
10/26 @Air Force (6-6)
11/2 Navy(7-4, one game left vs Army)
11/9 Pittsburgh(5-6, one game left vs USF)
11/16 Open
11/23 BYU (7-5)
11/30@Stanford(10-2, on game left vs UCLA)
schedule will feature at least 10 bowl teams(could be 11 with Pittsburgh), and only one team with losing record. Notre Dame cancels Michigan series after 2013 to schedule 5 ACC schools, will also drop Pitt as non conference game since Pitt will be in ACC.
Georgia 2013 schedule
8/31@Clemson(10-2)(Clemson may cancel)
9/7 South Carolina (10-2)
9/14 Open
9/21 North Texas (4-8)
9/28 @LSU (10-2)
10/5@Tennessee (5-7)
10/12 Missouri (5-7)
10/19 Vanderbilt (8-4)
10/26 Open
11/2 Florida(11-1) in Jacksonville
11/9 Appalachan St (8-3, in FCS playoffs)
11/16 @Auburn (3-9)
11/23 @Kentucky (1-11)
11/30 @Georgia Tech (6-6 one game left vs FSU)
schedule features six bowl teams plus one fcs playoff team. also has five teams with losing records, and UGA gets to bottom feed off the three worst teams in the sec record wise…if this schedule holds up, Georgia will play four teams with at least 10 wins, including three of the five(not including themselves) from the sec, making their 2013 schedule harder than that of alabama.
compare and contrast
for those interested, you can find future schedules at this link:
http://www.fbschedules.com/
and for those who like to follow any football history, here are the schedules, win/losses and coaching records of every FBS school and some FCS as well.
http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/index.php
save the links and enjoy
@ millersirish1986
They have a good defense but they are overmatched on offense against any of the SEC defenses. Take the blinders off, ND’s offense is not good.
But due to parity in the conference the two loss teams can beat any one loss team on a given day which makes the whole poll voting ridiculous. Playoffs will accelerate the SEC total dominance but how about next year when two mediocre teams from one of the other conferences goes undefeated. The whole thing is hopeless if you want to always choose the best team.
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Which, over time, has shown to be exactly how it works in the NCAA basketball tournament — the best teams from the best conferences always win every game…
v2the4,
Actually Alabama did play one of the SEC east “powers” in the past 3 years. They played Florida in 2011, at Florida. While Florida was not up to par with what they normally are as a team. The fact remains Alabama did play this game. Check it, the schedule has been played. All you have to do is simply Google.
This is all funny. ND does not face either Bama our UGA’s opponents in the title game, they well either play Bama or UGA. I have heard this same talk 6 years in a row. All the speculation means nothing. The game is played in the field. If the Irish win, more power to ya, but if it was easy someone would have beat the SEC powers already. I think it will be a great game either way. Just don’t give me all these stats on why you will win, I have seen this all before. ND is a great, deserving team, but I say again, don’t count that win just yet. There is a reason the SEC has dominated the BCS title games.
cameron poe,
you are right..I forgot about that game, after urban meyer “quit” on his team for losing to bama twice the year before….
they beat the stuffing out of florida in gainsville, and darn near broke John Brantley’s ankle that game…38-8 was the score or something like that..
Leave the “Irish Fans ” alone there teams gave sucked for so many years lately why not give them there do.
I dislike Alabama…go DAWGS!!!!!!!!
LSU is the most overrated team on this list…and yes, I know my Horn’s aren’t exactly the 72′ Dolphins. LSU struggled to beat Auburn (12-10), struggled with Towson St., almost loss to Ole’ Miss, then topped it off with a narrow victory over the mighty Razorbacks.
tg..
if the Horns beat kansas st in manhattan, which has been a house of horrors for Mack Brown (only 1-4 in the little apple) then we will get to play either LSU or TAMU, provided that the Florida Citrus Bowl doenst take either one first…
but then again, if TCU beats OU on saturday, the cotton bowl will have to decide between UT and OU if they are both 9-3
I think if Alabama losses to Georgia, they are heading to Orlando…if Georgia losses, then they are going there…..Florida will be guaranteed a bcs bowl if they are ranked #4 or higher and they are currently ranked #3.
makes for some interesting scenarios:
I concur my friend. I don’t think the Horns could beat either aTm or the Tigers. Even with the lack of offense that LSU has, the Horns wouldn’t be able to score on them. aTm would run all over us…and it kills me to admit that. That being said, If we make it to the Cotton bow, I believe it would be one on the best bowl games with the possibility of playing the Ags. I think Mack has no choice but to unload on this team to get them to beat K-State…that fire just got a little bigger under his ass!!!
Lots of verbosity.
Not shocking with all the ND hate, always there win or lose.
They played 12 FBS schools. 0 FCS schools.
You can say “almost lost” “lucky” bad calls” but 12-0 in College football is VERY DIFFICULT.
stanford, @oklahoma, mich, @MSu, @USC
not shabby. BYU, NAVy, miami, MSU bowl teams
ND deserved it, defense is ELITE.
They played 2 QB’s early in season as Kelly had to teach a redshirt freshmen how to play.
Alabama’s schedule THIS YEAR was a joke.
2 tough games LSU & A&M. When you schedule Western Carolina in November, imo you should drop a spot in rankings that week.
SEC THIS, SEC THAT. i get it, best conference in the land, we all know this.
Notre Dame can beat bama or georgia. Not doubt about it. CAN’T WAIT.
besides 99% graduation rate (#1) in country
and #1 in BCS WILL NEVER EVER HAPPEN AGAIN. ND is the ONLY school that can do that.
something to really shine light on.
The other schools in the 90′s% … wake forest, duke, northwestern, etc… get it?
one more thing.
33 of 51 ND players to playin in bcs championship has at least 1 offer from SEC school.
SO please stop saying ND doesn’t have talent.
Stupid.
I can see why les miles was mad about gunner kiel going ND last minute. Kid was ranked 8th best player in nation when he committed to LSU, when committed to Notre Dame he was re-ranked #51 player in country ????
sec bias is all over.
ND did have a quality win over Stanford, but OU? No. OU was a combined 4 points from being 7-4. 774 or so yds to WV and 49 pts, 48 pts to OKSt. ND will need a Stanford type game to beat Bama’s defense.
seamus0317 says: Nov 25, 2012 9:04 PM
Notre Dame survived???? They played all top level teams not Little Sisters of the Poor!
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Sorry “seamus”, a little reality check for you. ND did not come to playing ALL top level teams.
Credit for winning them all, no doubt, but don’t be delusional in thinking your boys are a “dominant” team. Look at the opponents, and the margins of victory… worth pointing out that all of these games were AT HOME, where you should dominate.
Purdue (aka Pur-don’t) by 3
Michigan by 7 (after ‘Bama loss, they were suddenly “overrated”)
Stanford by 7 (in overtime)
BYU (aka BY-Who?) by 3
Pitt by 3 (and it took THREE overtimes)
That’s 5 wins by a total of, what, 23 points?
Unbeaten? Absolutely. Beatable? VERY. Don’t know if they’d be the 7th best team in the SEC as one post wrote; I think that’s just fans hatin’. But if they played an SEC schedule, they might not have gone 12-0. They’ll get their chance to prove it though… on the field… as it should be.
I will start by saying if any team knocks off the SEC, I prefer it to be ND. The only league to beat us, a one man league. The most hated league could only be taken down by the most hated team. Classic.
Now, on to the game. The offense that beat Bama (TA&M) is miles away from the Irish offense. No doubt, ND’s defense is for real. Loved the goal line stand, seriously, I wanted to ask it out on a date, then put the yawn move on it. I want to see Bama’s wear down offense vs that heart break defense. The offenses are different, but comparable. It would be an amazing game. As a Bama fan, I would predict a 24-20 win (shocking, I know). Tbh, I think the Irish would struggle more against UGA’s passing offense. But the Irish offense would find more success against the dawg defense. I would say UGA wins 38-35. Don’t take this as anti-Irish, it ain’t. I love the play style, coaching, and the team work. This is an SEC style team. Either way, looking forward to finally getting a real test in the title game.
Each year, except last, it is the same ol’ story. SEC fans look at the opponent and say that they don’t have the speed/size/depth combination to play 60 minutes. The opponents scoff and say that the SEC is overrated.
2007: Ohio State was allegedly unstoppable, the most explosive offense ever, etc. and it was a tragedy not to have a rematch against team vastly superior to UF…UMich. Result…historic 41-14 beatdown for the ages.
2008: Ohio State again was the best team in the nation…LSU was a 2 loss SEC team that didn’t belong in the title game. LSU was up 31-10 and the end of the 3rd quarter before the dogs were called off. Again, another laugher.
2009: Gators again, this time against the “unstoppable team not from the SEC” Sooners. The Gators dominated both sides of the LOS and the Sooners folded.
I can continue….Texas was unstoppable until exposed by Bama. Oregon was unstoppable until exposed by Auburn.
Non-SEC teams just don’t have the speed/size/depth combination to hang for 60 minutes of physical football.
I predict that Bama (who should dismantle UGA unless they have 6 turnovers) will wear down ND and will push them around come the 4th quarter.
The proof will be on the field and the SEC will dominate as they always do. It is crazy to think that 6 of the top 10 BCS ranked teams come from a single conference.
gatorprof says:
Nov 26, 2012 6:39 PM
The proof will be on the field and the SEC will dominate as they always do.
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This is a bit of revisionist history, or at least selective memory that chooses to ignore the fact that such college football giants as Utah, Central Florida and Connecticut have not only defeated, but controlled games against SEC opponents in the past 5 years.
And I haven’t even mentioned the games against Iowa, Penn St, Missouri, Michigan, Ohio St or Michigan St, among others, that the SEC has lost in recent years.
Broad generalizations are generally false. Yes, the SEC has had some very good teams in recent years, but its awfully arrogant to pretend that the game is over before the participants are even determined.
sandy102270 says:
Broad generalizations are generally false. Yes, the SEC has had some very good teams in recent years, but its awfully arrogant to pretend that the game is over before the participants are even determined.
SEC Bowl records the past 6 years
2006 = 6-3
2007 = 7-2
2008 = 6-2
2009 = 6-4
2010 = 5-5
2011 = 6-3
SEC has lost some bowl games, he’s not saying SEC teams can’t be beat, what he is saying, is that when it comes to BCS Bowl games and BCS titles, the SEC has shut down everyone else. That’s why the SEC has won 6 straight BCS titles, and the SEC has the Best BCS bowl record out of all the other conferences including the most BCS bowl wins. the SEC has a 69.6 win percentage in BCS Bowl games, winning 16 out 23 between 7 different schools. What’s ND’s record during the BCS era? 0-3. (That really doesn’t mean much, I just felt like putting it out there.) Yes, the Michigan States, Pitts, and team x’s and team y’s will have their day, and yes the SEC teams will lose, yet we are still posting a 65% win percentage in all bowl games since 2006. 69.6% in BCS games and 100% in BCS National Title games. Will ND break that chain? sure it could, however the SEC is a safe bet. that was his point, outstanding job on your part missing it.
sandy102270,
I don’t care about mid to bottom conference match ups. I don’t care about non-BCS match ups. People have to try and cherry pick stats to obscure the obvious, which is that the SEC is by far and away the best conference year in and year out in the BCS era.
There is nothing revisionist about what the SEC has done in the BCS era, which is simply to dominate.
Here is the hard data.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowl_Championship_Series
1) SEC is 16-7 in BCS games, 2nd best Pac 12 11-7.
2) SEC is 8-1 in BCS title games and the one loss was LSU to Bama last year. Only one other conference has 2 titles!…Big 12.
3) Bama, LSU, and the Gators EACH have more titles than Pac 12, Big 10, etc. are have as many titles as the Big 12.
4) 5 different SEC teams have won titles, 2nd best is Big 12 with 2 different teams.
5) SEC has 8 titles, all other conferences combined have 6.
I think that this analysis is much more important than how Vandy, Miss St., Ole’ Miss, etc. perform in bowl games.
If there was a 16 team playoff this year, I would wager that 3/4 teams in the semis would be SEC teams, if not 4/4. I hope that they do go to a full playoff system as it will really weed out the pretender teams from even making it to the title game.