The Irish Win A BCS Game

Who would have guessed we'd see those words a few months ago? When Charlie Weis took over the program, everybody knew it was on the rise. We all knew Darius Walker was going to be a great RB. And that Brady Quinn would improve.

I'm not sure everyone thought it would happen this quickly, though. Weis had a core group of players who weren't seniors this year that he could take his time into molding into the players he wanted them to become, including, but not limited to Brady Quinn, Darius Walker, Maurice Stovall, Jeff Samardzija, Tom Zibikowski, Victor Abiamiri, Travis Leitko, Asaph Schwap, Travis Thomas, Chinedum Udukwe, David Grimes & basically every offensive linemen. And yes, since I know you're asking yourself this, all of these players have been significant in turning Notre Dame into a great team this year. Some more then others. And there are some very key people missing from this list, including all starting LB's, but the point remains, Weis had a solid foundation in which most people thought he'd have turned into a title contender next year, or the year after.

But not this year. Sure, they aren't a title contender this year, but realistically, until Matt Leinart fumbled out of bounds two weeks ago, they were. But still, they are leaps & bounds better this year then most people predicted. That's why, 10 weeks from now when they win the Fiesta Bowl, there are going to be a lot of surprised people. And even more then that, there are going to be a lot of pissed off college fans who hate the idea that Notre Dame will once again be a national player. Unfortunately for a lot of schools, Notre Dame has a national recruiting class. They are one of the few schools that don't just get players from around their state & the neighboring states. If there is a significant ballplayer in any of the 50 states, Notre Dame can get them. And now that they are back, they will begin to, again. But we'll save that for another posting on some gloomy February day when there is nothing else to talk about.

Right now, we're talking about the Irish winning one of four BCS Bowls. I know you all don't believe it, but it's true.

Right now the Irish are 15th in the BCS rankings. They are a 5-2 team. But they are going to be a 9-2 team very soon. Next weekend they play the Volunteers. And having two weeks to prepare for them, this team is going to be able to march up & down the field on them. The same can't be said for that Volunteer offense, so while this will be a highly hyped game, it won't deliver like UT-OSU or ND-USC did. It won't be entertaining.

After the Vols game, the Irish have Navy, Stanford & Syracuse left on their schedule. It's not even worth getting into these games because they won't be close. The Irish will put up at least 200 points in their last 4 games, while running their record up to 9-2 with ease.

And in doing so, they will raise themselves in the BCS standings from 15th to at least 12th. They'll most likely finish in the 7-10 range when all is said & done.

Now, we know USC, Texas, Virginia Tech & West Virginia have bids locked up because they are all going to win their conferences. That leaves two conference champions & two at-larges left. I have a hard time believe either Georgia or Alabama will be left out of the BCS, so that takes away a conference championship & an at-large. The only other conference is the Big Ten. With the way they are all beating each other up this year, whoever ends up winning it will likely have two losses, and the second place team will be out of the running for an at-large bid. For this article's sake, we'll say Penn State gets the Big Ten Championship, because that's what I believe is going to happen.

We're now down to one at-large bid. The SEC already has Bama & Georgia in the BCS, they won't get a third team. The Big East is lucky to have one team in, they won't get a second. Big XII doesn't have any other team that has any realistic shot at getting a bid. Big Ten is out. That leaves the Pac-10 #2, the ACC #2 & Notre Dame as the remaining players.

UCLA is the Pac-10 #2, but unfortunately for them, USC just beat them handily on December 3rd, so they've dropped a few spots, and have fallen out of the BCS picture. That leaves the ACC. Boston College & Miami both lost in November to Virginia Tech. Coupled with their previous losses, they are eliminated. That leaves just Florida State, who Virginia Tech beat in the ACC Championship. Realistically, they are a decent choice for the 8th spot.

But this is the Irish we're talking about here. Notre Dame. You must finish in the BCS Top 12 to qualify for an at-large bid. They've done that. They've garnered all sorts of National attention with Charlie Weis, Brady Quinn & that USC Classic in October. They're 9-2. They're the most popular football team in the country, possibly in the world. When it comes down to it, greed will win out. The Irish are going to win that 8th spot, because that is what America is going to want to see.

So now we have the Rose Bowl for the National Championship. USC plays VaTech. Don't flip out on me now, I'll explain this sometime next week. Texas vs Alabama in the Orange Bowl. West Virginia vs Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.

And the feel good bowl of the year, the Fiesta Bowl. Notre Dame vs Penn State. The ultimate return to glory bowl. Neither team was giving a snowballs chance in hell to get a BCS game, but they both made it. Joe-Pa vs Charlie Weis. It'll definitely be a great game.

Just one thing. If Charlie Weis could dream up that brilliant gameplan against USC in just two weeks, what is he going to do against a less dominant PSU team with 5 weeks to prepare?

I don't care who the Irish play in their Bowl Game, they are going to come out better prepared then any other team in that last week of December/first week of January. And it may be close, but the Irish will take it in the end, regardless of opponent.

And I can't wait. Because once that happens, Weis has the task of convincing Quinn, Samardzija & Stovall to return for one more year so the Irish can win the National Championship next season.