Which Team Has Been a Bigger Bust in 2014, Notre Dame or Oklahoma?

Back in August, it would have been hard to say which team was more brimming with confidence about the upcoming season: Notre Dame or Oklahoma.

With the 2014 season nearly in the books, it's just as difficult to determine which has been more of a disappointment. Neither team heads into its final regular-season game anywhere close to where it expected to be, and both are in contention for the dreaded "bust" label.

So it goes when one is tabbed as the overwhelming favorite to win its conference and the other was getting plenty of mention as a potential playoff team if it could navigate a rather daunting independent schedule.

But who busted bigger in 2014, Notre Dame or Oklahoma?

Notre Dame's flop is worse, for two reasons: Notre Dame tricked us for two months before crashing hard, and Oklahoma has done this before, failing to meet expectations in several other seasons.

To come to this conclusion, though, it's necessary to look at where these teams started and where they've ended up.

Team	AP preseason rank	Highest CFP rank	Current CFP rank
Notre Dame	17th	10th	Not ranked
Oklahoma	4th	15th	20th

Notre Dame was coming off its first loss of the season when the first playoff rankings came out in late October, having just fallen in the final seconds at defending champ Florida State. Oklahoma had lost twice by that point, falling at TCU and then at home to Kansas State.

Yet the Fighting Irish had a far better national perception when those first rankings were released, somehow gaining more supporters for losing than they had before playing at Florida State.

"Each week has a chance to define Notre Dame's season," wrote Keith Arnold of Chat Sports, referring to a tough November schedule that had the chance to push the Irish into the playoffs even with a loss. The toughest of those contests, on paper, would come Nov. 8 at a rising Arizona State team.

Oklahoma, too, still had expectations that could be met despite the two October losses, because it had the chance to right some wrongs with a Nov. 8 visit from Baylor. The Sooners had never lost to the Bears in Norman and as a result were still major players in the Big 12 race and could still be in the running for a major bowl bid.

But Nov. 8 was the day the dreams truly died for both Notre Dame and Oklahoma. With their biggest games of the season on the docket for that Saturday, instead of moving toward achieving some goals both programs walked off the field wondering what went wrong.

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Notre Dame was crushed, 55-31, at Arizona State, a few hours after Oklahoma was run off its own field in a 48-14 loss to Baylor.

Suddenly, the talk of what these teams could accomplish this season turned to discussions of failures, both in terms of on-field performance and coaching effectiveness.

Oklahoma's Bob Stoops has been speculated as a prime candidate to replace Will Muschamp at Florida, where he could get a "change of scenery" that many feel the veteran coach needs. Brian Kelly of Notre Dame, who previously had been linked to NFL openings, has had his name mentioned as a good option for the New York Giants job if it were to come open.

Considering the shortcomings of each team, getting out of town might not be such a bad idea for either.

The similarities between the teams extends beyond what was expected and what hasn't happened. Though both featured talented rosters stocked with notable recruits, the most important player for each offense entered the season as major question marks.

Trevor Knight had a breakout performance in Oklahoma's Sugar Bowl win over Alabama, launching the sophomore-to-be into far-too-early Heisman discussions that ignored the fact he'd only been good enough to start five games in 2013.

With Notre Dame, it was resting its laurels on Everett Golson, a hero in 2012 when he helped lead the Irish to the national title game but someone who hadn't thrown a pass in a live game since January 2013 because of a season-long academic suspension. He wasn't even guaranteed the starting job when training camp began in the summer.

Both quarterbacks have been integral to what their respective teams have done this season, both good and bad.

Knight was effective most of the time, though he struggled in losses to TCU and Baylor and at many points during the season took a back seat to Oklahoma's young and rising running back corps. Knight ended up getting hurt late in the Baylor loss and hasn't played since, yet because of freshman tailback Samaje Perine's rushing his absence has hardly been noticed.

Golson has managed to be both an offensive savior and his team's own worst enemy in the same season, accounting for 37 touchdowns and more than 3,500 yards but also 20 of Notre Dame's 24 turnovers. All 20 of those giveaways have come in the past eight games, after he'd opened with 11 scores in the first three contests and then nearly tied an FBS record for consecutive completions in the same game that he turned it over four times.

Instead of invitations to New York City for next month's Heisman ceremony, Golson and Knight probably won't even watch the event on television.

Looking at all of this, it's easy to see why both Notre Dame and Oklahoma are considered busts in 2014. The only fitting way for this season to end would be for the Irish and Sooners to meet in a bowl game.

As an unofficial member of the ACC, Notre Dame gets to be included in that conference's choices for who will play in its bowl affiliations. Only one of those would be against a Big 12 team, the Russell Athletic Bowl on Dec. 29 in Orlando.

Projections from ESPN and CBS Sports have Oklahoma headed to Orlando, while Notre Dame is pegged to play in either the Belk, Pinstripe or Sun Bowl.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.