Notre Dame vs. Stanford: After Andrew Luck, Who Wins in 2012?

The luck of the Irish might have finally shined on Notre Dame with the inevitable departure of Stanford quarterback and No.1 NFL Draft pick Andrew Luck to the NFL after completing another great year.

This offseason, the senior quarterback will finally make the jump from college to the NFL after flirting with declaring for the draft in his junior season before eventually coming back to Palo Alto last offseason.

With one of the best quarterbacks in the history of the Cardinal—and college football in general—off to the pros, who will win the annual rivalry game between Stanford and Notre Dame next season?

Fighting Irish coach Brian Kelly is starting to make some real progress in South Bend after a rocky start to his career with the Fighting Irish, and with another top recruiting class coming in, Notre Dame could be back in the national spotlight next season.

For Stanford, the team not only loses its starting quarterback, Luck, but loses the biggest Cardinal playmaker on offense.  It won’t be easy to fill the footsteps of Luck in the upcoming seasons.

On the current roster of quarterbacks, sophomore Brett Nottingham and junior Robby Picazo have seen some action this season in relief of Luck; the duo have only thrown for 93 yards on eight of 11 pass attempts this season.

Coach David Shaw will have to break in a new quarterback next season in the tough Pac-12 conference, which may lead to the Cardinal falling back into the pack of the league after spending the last few seasons at the top.

Can Notre Dame snap Stanford’s success against them next season and have another run like the Fighting Irish had from 2000 to 2008 when they rattled off eight wins in nine games?

Let me know in the comments who you think will win the Notre Dame vs. Stanford rivalry game in 2012.