Notre Dame Football 2011: Is Brian Kelly's Irish Team Heading to a BCS Berth?

In 2011, Notre Dame has the schedule that can allow them to reach a Bowl Championship Series bowl game without apparently too much trouble. Most of the teams they are facing are ranked lower than 40th and some of them are in the process of reconstruction or have a new coaching staff.

Because of preseason rankings, it will be easy to infer that Notre Dame schedule is full of “cupcakes” and therefore not worthy of any consideration for the Bowl Championship Series.

I tend to disagree with those opinions. Notre Dame will have to play their best football from the first day of the season and keep the pace to reach the game against Stanford in the best position possible.

Notre Dame's schedule, as easy as it might seem, includes 10 teams which were bowl eligible in 2010, and nine that actually played a bowl game last season. USC was bowl eligible because of its record but were ineligible for postseason games due to the NCAA sanctions against the program.

Realistically, Notre Dame has three, maybe four, games which may make the difference between a 9-4 record and a 11-1 or 12-0 record. Those games are against Michigan State, Air Force, USC and Stanford.

It does not seem farfetched to think that Notre Dame can reach its match against Stanford with a 10-1 or even an 11-0 record.

This Notre Dame team is well-trained and Brian Kelly’s system will be more ingrained into the players than last year.

Two quarterbacks with experience, an offensive line with better understanding of the Kelly’s scheme and the return of Michael Floyd to reinforce the receiving crop are pluses for the offensive team.

If the defensive team achieves the level of performance of the last four games of the 2010 season, Notre Dame will be obtaining a BCS berth without question.

Out of the 2011 schedule, Notre Dame's only two "cupcake" games are their visits to Lafayette to face Purdue and to North Carolina to face Wake Forest. The remainder of the schedule would demand a team focused and disciplined from the very first game of the season.

On opening day, Notre Dame will face the University of South Florida. Notre Dame has historically been a successful team winning the opening game of the season, irrespective of the coach. On the opening game since 1990, Notre Dame has only lost twice as a home team (1995 and 2007) and twice as a visiting team (2001 and 2004). Last season they easily beat Purdue. The return of Skip Holtz to South Bend coaching against Notre Dame will be an interesting factor for this game. Rivals.com ranked the Bulls at 43rd on their preseason rankings. Notre Dame should have no problems disposing of the Bulls in their opening game.

On the second game of the season, the Irish will travel to Ann Arbor to face Michigan in a night game. The Wolverines start the season ranked 36th by Rivals.com. With a new coaching staff and a new system, the Wolverines might not present problems for the Irish this early in the season. Brian Kelly and his team should beat Michigan in Ann Arbor as the Irish will come with experience and with a better understanding of Kelly’s spread system.

Michigan State visits South Bend for the third game of the Irish. The Spartans start the season ranked 18th by Rivals.com. They are always a difficult team for the Irish. The Spartans most likely will arrive with a 2-0 record after a couple of cupcake victories against Youngstown State and Florida Atlantic. This game should not go to overtime if the Irish want to pursue a BCS berth this season. This time the Irish should beat Michigan State without nail-biting endings and in a convincing manner.

For their fourth game, the Irish will travel to Heinz Field to face Pittsburgh. The Panthers are a team in reconstruction after the strange dismissal of Dave Wannstedt at the end of last season. Ranked 35th by Rivals.com, the Panthers most likely will arrive with a 2-1 record after facing Iowa the week prior to their match against the Irish. The Irish should beat them comfortably even as a visiting team.

Notre Dame travels to Lafayette to face a Purdue for their fifth game of the season. The Boilermakers are ranked 74th by Rivals.com. A team with a good deal of problems, a head coach in the hot seat, and a potential 2-1 record mean the Boilermakers should not represent a big obstacle for Notre Dame's goal to reach a BCS berth. It is the hallmark of a well-coached team not to underestimate a lower adversary and this will be an opportunity for Brian Kelly and his team to show maturity on their way to a breakthrough season.

The Falcons visit South Bend for the Irish sixth game of the season. They start the season ranked 29th ahead of teams like Auburn and in the midst of other big names like Georgia, Miami, Missouri and Texas Tech. They convincingly beat Georgia Tech in their bowl game to close their 2010 season. They visit South Bend with a potential 3-1 record if they beat either TCU or Navy. This game will be a good preparation game for the Irish defensive team as the Falcons offensive scheme is the triple option, similar but less sophisticated than the scheme used by Navy. Home advantage has to count and the Irish will beat the Falcons not without a defensive struggle during the first half of the game.

After a bye week and for the seventh game of the season, South Bend is visited by USC Trojans. They enter the season ranked 19th by Rivals.com. They are still a competitive foe and the rivalry game against the Irish always brings the best of them. They could arrive to this match with a 4-2 or even a 3-3 record depending on the results of their games against Utah, Arizona State, Arizona and California. The big issue for the Trojans is their defensive team. The Irish tend to win consistently after a bye week, the team will already have six games in their pocket making their offensive unit efficient enough to make USC's defensive team struggle. The Irish will take this victory.

For their eighth game, the Midshipmen visit South Bend. Navy enters the season ranked 50th by Rivals.com. I can say that this year the Irish will be totally ready for them. This will be a game that Brian Kelly and his coaching staff have been preparing all year, though they have not even mentioned it. To this game the Irish will arrive ranked in the top 10 potentially with a 7-0 record or in the top 20 if they drop a game against their Michigan foes or the Trojans. Notre Dame has to show the stature to avenge last year's awful defeat in the hands of the Midshipmen. This year Irish fans and the team could not expect anything out of this game but a comfortable and convincing victory.

A trip to Wake Forest is scheduled for the Irish's ninth game. The Demon Deacons are the lowest-ranked team (87) that the Irish will face this year. They are in process of reconstruction and most likely will have a losing record of 1-7 or 2-6 when they host the Irish for their first meeting ever. The Irish should come out from Winston-Salem with a convincing and comfortable victory. Forbidding a misfortune, the Irish could be undefeated this late into their 2011 season.

A visit to Landover, Maryland to host Maryland Terrapins marks their tenth game. The Terrapins enter the season ranked 44th by Rivals.com. The Terrapins might arrive with a winning record to their match against the Irish; they could even be bowl eligible by this date. Notre Dame has to show composure and beat Maryland to continue their quest for a BCS berth.

Game 11 will involve Boston College visiting South Bend. The Golden Eagles preseason ranking is 41. The Golden Eagles finished their 2010 season with a bowl game but they are not going to be that lucky this season. Their schedule is not easy and they potentially can arrive to this game with a losing record (3-7). As the home team the Irish should not have problems to comfortably beat them this year.

For the final game of the season, the Irish will travel to Palo Alto to face Stanford. The Cardinal represent the most difficult game of the season for the Irish. They enter the season ranked 4th. There are high expectations for both teams and they will arrive with at least 10 victories.

This game might be the closest game for the Irish season. A victory here will catapult the Irish to the BCS and, if undefeated, maybe to the championship game depending in the arrangement of other teams within the top 10.

Contrary to previous years when expectations were high and the factual composition of the team was limited, this year there are good reasons to be optimistic about the Irish season.

Experience at quarterback, return of 17 starters (eight offensive, nine defensive and two special teams) and an improved mastering of Brian Kelly system on both sides of the ball can finally spark a breakthrough season for the Irish.

It is my position that this year the Irish will make it to the ranks of the Bowl Championship Series games and if they make it that far, they will become contenders for the national championship game.

As an Irish fan, it will be great for me to see Mr. May and Mr. Herbstreit having to eat their words while seeing the Irish return to the spotlight and become contenders year in and year out