Notre Dame Football: Can the Irish Be a BCS Team in 2011?

To answer that question in one simple word, no.

Yes, you can quickly fire back saying that with nearly every starter returning from 2010 in addition to the second year with Brian Kelly’s spread offense in South Bend that the Irish are due to return to the BCS this season.

The one point that keeps me from seeing the Fighting Irish make their first trip to the BCS since 2007 is the daunting schedule that lies ahead of the program after today’s game against the Bulls of South Florida.

While looking at the 2011 schedule, the only games that could be an almost guaranteed win this season would be trips to Purdue in October and Wake Forest in November. Sorry Boilermaker and Demon Deacon fans.

With those two games out of the way, the rest of the schedule isn’t going to be as easy for the Golden Domers in 2011.

The next two weeks for the Irish will have a healthy dose of the Great Lakes State as the team will travel to the Big House for the night game with Michigan on Sept. 10 followed by hosting Michigan State on Sept. 17.

Both Michigan programs return dangerous starting quarterbacks in Denard Robinson and Kurt Cousins that could give the Notre Dame defense trouble in their games in the following weeks.

As we skip ahead to the next obstacle for the Irish, the rivalry game with the Trojans in Los Angeles might not be as easy as some would think as Lane Kiffin is quickly picking up where Pete Carroll left off before jumping ship to the NFL.

USC quarterback Matt Barkley has plenty of weapons on the offensive side of the ball like wide receiver Robert Woods and tight end Rhett Ellison for a team that will play spoiler because of NCAA sanctions.

The 2011 season finale on the road in Palo Alto, CA against Andrew Luck and Stanford could be the toughest game on the schedule with the talent the Cardinal still possesses even with Jim Harbaugh moving on to the San Francisco 49ers. If Luck can improve on his one touchdown and two interceptions game from last season, the Cardinal can win their third straight game against the Irish in the history of the two programs.

With that said, where do you see Notre Dame finishing this season? Will they return to the BCS? Will they compete in a lower ranked bowl game? While unlikely, do they miss the college football postseason completely?

Give your opinion in the comments below on how you think the Fighting Irish will finish this season.