Who Does ND Pick?

[AirForceBuck]

I think the ND picking who they want theory is totally incorrect. If that was true, then there wouldnt have been any need for the Fiesta, Sugar or Orange to spend money by sending a rep to the OSU-Michigan game last week. Seems like the Fiesta rep is seriously leaning towards an OSU-ND matchup (per Dispatch):

"When it comes to the team, it’s the offense [OSU]," said Alan Young, selection committee chairman of the Fiesta Bowl. "They’ve got, we think, a very exciting offense. Whether it’s the Fiesta Bowl or any other bowl, it’s real exciting to think about a team that would go in there and put up a lot of points."

then went on to later say...

"That would be a great matchup," Young said. "Notre Dame and Ohio State, they’ve only played four times. Stuff like that is attractive to us."


Also, note that the Fiesta Bowl wants a great matchup with alot of points - in 2003 we drew the 4th largest Fiesta Bowl crowd ever, and then the following year we combined wtih K-State for 63 points. OSU has what it needs to get there that Oregon doesnt have:

a HUGE win over Michigan
a share of the conference crown
a nationally TV rating that tunes in weekly prime time (Pac10 is shown too late)
and has been to the Fiesta Bowl twice for good matchups which we won as underdogs.

 

[Bucklion]

ND will go to the Fiesta. There is talk of Penn State being their first pick, with their history in the Bowl and their resurgence, but that won't happen, because if it did, then the Fiesta folks know that the Orange would pounce on ND second. That would leave an OSU/PSU rematch, which the Fiesta people won't want, or Penn State/Oregon, which they won't want either.

ND has a lot of power in a lot of ways, but the only thing more powerful than ND is money. I see no way that the Fiesta won't be OSU/ND.

 

[BB73]

It still applies, although it's not unique to ND.

[URL="http://www.bcsfootball.org/index2.cfm?page=eligibility"]http://www.bcsfootball.org/index2.cfm?page=eligibility[/URL]

This has been lingering for me. A couple of posts in this thread seemed to indicate that Notre Dame no longer gets special treatment in the BCS, and that's just not the case.

Here are the BCS rules that are unique for ND in the future. Bold added by me.

bcsfootball.org

Future BCS Structure

The 2005 regular season marks the eighth and final year of ABC Sport's exclusive rights to telecast the four BCS bowls. Beginning with the post-season following the 2006 campaign, FOX Sports will telecast the FedEx Orange, Nokia Sugar and Tostitos Fiesta Bowls. Fox will also telecast the National Championship games in January 2007, January 2008, and January 2009.

ABC will continue to telecast the Rose Bowl through January 2014. It will also telecast the National Championship game when it is played in Pasadena in January 2010. The BCS will use a "double hosting" format beginning with the games played after the 2006 regular season. Under this model there will be five (5) BCS games annually, including the National Championship game. The four BCS bowl games (Orange, Fiesta, Sugar, Rose) will be held annually, in addition to a National Championship game that will rotate among those four bowl sites each year. Once every four years, one of the aforementioned bowls will host two BCS games: its traditional bowl game and the National Championship game.

Under the double hosting format, the champions of the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pacific-10 and Southeastern Conferences will continue to play annually in one of the BCS bowls through the post-season following the 2007 regular season. In addition, one conference champion from among Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West, Sun Belt, and Western Athletic Conferences will automatically qualify to play in a BCS bowl if it is: (1) ranked among the top 12 teams in the final BCS Standings; or (2) ranked among the top 16 teams in the final BCS Standings and ranked higher than the champion of one of the conferences whose champion has an annual automatic berth in a BCS bowl.

Under the new BCS arrangement Notre Dame will be guaranteed one of the at-large slots in a BCS bowl if it is ranked No. 8 or better in the final BCS Standings. It is also guaranteed annual payment for its participation in the BCS. In those seasons in which the Irish play in a BCS game, the school will receive $4.5 million (an amount equivalent that received by a conference that places a second team in a BCS bowl). In those seasons in which Notre Dame does not play in a BCS game, it is projected to be paid $1.3 million for its participation in the BCS arrangement.

As in the current BCS arrangement, no more than two teams from the same conference may play in the BCS bowls in any particular year.

After the 2007 season, automatic qualification standards will be applied to all 11 Division I-A conferences to determine the number of conferences whose champion will automatically qualify for a BCS game for the next two seasons ('08 and '09). Each conference will be evaluated on each of the previous four seasons ('04, '05, '06, '07), based on membership during the '07 season. The champions of no fewer than five conferences and no more than seven conferences will have annual automatic berths in the BCS bowl games played following the 2008 and 2009 regular season.

It is anticipated that payments to those conferences whose champions have an annual automatic berth in a BCS bowl game will be approximately $17 million following the 2006 regular season and increase to $18.5 million for the BCS bowl games played following the 2009 regular season. Any conference placing a second team in one of the BCS bowls will continue to receive a payment of $4.5 million for such team.

 

[Bestbuck36]

In a sense all teams have a small say in where they go for their bowl game, they don't have to accept the invitation to play. That would be stupid and not totally unprecedented but very unlikely concerning a BCS game.

 

[cincibuck]

This has been lingering for me. A couple of posts in this thread seemed to indicate that Notre Dame no longer gets special treatment in the BCS, and that's just not the case.

Under the new BCS arrangement Notre Dame will be guaranteed one of the at-large slots in a BCS bowl if it is ranked No. 8 or better in the final BCS Standings. It is also guaranteed annual payment for its participation in the BCS. In those seasons in which the Irish play in a BCS game, the school will receive $4.5 million (an amount equivalent that received by a conference that places a second team in a BCS bowl). In those seasons in which Notre Dame does not play in a BCS game, it is projected to be paid $1.3 million for its participation in the BCS arrangement.

Thank you BB73. I rest my case. Notre Dame gets very special treatment in the BCS scheme and unlike any other program elgible for the BCS, they don't have to share a dime of it. And they wonder why the T-Shirt came out that says, "I only root for two teams, XXXXXXX and whoever plays Notre Dame."

 

[JXC]

Notre Dame sucks!

 

[Steve19]

Whoa there, fellas. Didn't you realize that ND also can re-create history? They didn't play a weak schedule, rather the teams magically got weak after playing them... (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/independents/2005-12-01-weis_x.htm)

Some have questioned whether a two-loss Irish team is worthy, especially because the only teams with winning records the Irish beat were No. 21 Michigan (7-4), Navy (6-4) and BYU (6-5). According to the NCAA, the Irish had the 63rd toughest schedule this year, with opponents having a 50.9% winning percentage.

By comparison, Ohio State had the fourth toughest schedule (62.9 percent), Penn State was 13th (59.2) and Oregon was 49th (53.7).
Weis said the critics need to look at the whole picture. He said they're looking at team's records at the end of the year, rather than when the Irish played them. Pittsburgh was ranked No. 23 when the teams met, Michigan No. 3, Purdue was No. 22 and Michigan State was No. 17 immediately after beating the Irish.

"Michigan State deserved to beat us. We did not play well that day. We did not coach well that day," he said. "But at the time Michigan State was one of the best teams in the country. So they end up 5-6 and everyone says, 'Well, they lost to a 5-6 Michigan State team.' Well that Michigan State team we played at that time was not a 5-6 team."

Weis didn't mention that Pittsburgh (5-6), Michigan State, Purdue (5-6), Tennessee (5-6) and Stanford (5-6) would have had winning records and been bowl eligible if they had beaten the Irish.

There is one way to help Mr Weis get a true perception of his team, let them play Ohio State!