Notre Dame Football 2009 Expectations

(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Remember that college schedules are made years in advance, Notre Dame was not aware they’d have both Washington teams coming in with one win (not counting the classic WSU/UW showdown) between them from 2008.

11/07/09 vs. Navy – W

Typically played at a neutral site, Notre Dame has them coming into town. Another Navy/ND game…another loss for the Midshipmen. Of course the “streak meant nothing”—right coach Weis?

Maybe tradition means nothing for the dispassionate NFL fans, but it certainly means everything in college football. I digress, the full diatribe against Weis can be found on my Sporting News blog.

11/14/09 @ Pittsburgh – W

Pitt will look dramatically different without McCoy in the backfield. Enough speed on defense will make Irish eyes smile.

11/21/09 vs. Connecticut – W

A win only because it is at home, and RB Donald Brown's departure. Connecticut’s coach, Randy Edsall, can out coach Weis any day of the week.

11/28/09 @ Stanford – W

A chance for a down game if UConn comes into South Bend hot and that game is hyped. Yet, I’d like to think a coach with Charlie’s salary could avoid a debacle against Stanford.

Well, I surprised even myself in granting the Irish a 10-2 record for 2009. I even cheated and gave Notre Dame their annual loss to someone they should beat (MSU). Why am I such a pessimist and still gave Weis 10 wins you ask? They play teams with a combined 2008 record of 71-70 where Navy, MSU, Pitt, and BC (hardly superpowers) make up 35 of the wins.

Let’s be honest, Notre Dame will get into a BCS Bowl with this schedule—but not because they are 10-2 and a legitimate contender.

They’ll get picked over a good SEC team (perhaps an Ole Miss) or Big Ten contender (sorry PSU) because they will generate TV revenue. College football is a business, and anyone who thinks otherwise also believes that baseball players who juice are the minority (they’re the majority people!) and boxing matches don’t get fixed.

That leads us to a plausible BCS bid to the Fiesta Bowl, and an OSU-sized dismantling at the hands of a school that played teams at their house on the roofs of conferences, not the basement. But hey, there is still the bowl win at Hawaii to mark as the defining moment of this regime’s recruiting classes.

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?