After an earlier post where I placed the Irish at 20th in the nation after spring ball, the pundits are starting to taste the "this team just may grow up" kool-aid that us ND fans have been gulping to help us through the offseason following 3-9.
Mark Schlabach, of ESPN, placed the Irish at 25 in his latest preseason rankings.
To put this in perspective, on Schlabach's rankings only two (2) Irish opponents are ranked ahead: #4 U$C, and #19 Pitt. Which means, if Schlabach's rankings held true to form, that the Irish would end the season at 10-2, or thereabouts.
And Schlabach isn't the only one coming around. Pat Forde's first note in his latest column:
1. Notre Dame will be better.
Perhaps improved enough to lose another bowl game. But part of the Fighting Irish fan base won't notice, because it'll be consumed with watching for Scourge of Humanity Ty Willingham to fail at Washington.
While it's not exactly a ringing endorsement (and of course has the obligatory shot at our recent bowl record - original stuff, Pat), it acknowledges what many around the program are starting to realize: That much talent will start to win sooner or later.
So scoff all you will, haters. But the truth will out.
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3 months ago
I think the 25 ranking has 2 reasons behind it.
The main reason is the schedule. If ND was facing the same caliber of teams in 08 as they did in 07, they would never had made the list. Sadly, this time of year, the schedule matters more than the product.
Looking at the list, there are a couple of teams that would not be considered a top 25 team if they played a different schedule.
I mean the fact that Georgia has Tenn, LSU, Florida and Auburn or that the Sooners have Texas, Kanasa and Texas Tech or Florida having Georgia, Tenn and LSU and are still considered top 5 teams shows they are simply in a different class.
IMO, after the top 5, the ranking is simply based on schedule. The teams in the top 5 are simply in a different class this year.
The other reason ESPN put ND on that list is the reaction. 3757 comments and most are about how ND should NOT be on the list.
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