[BuckeyeMike80]

Originally Posted by BrutusBobcat

My response to all of the "we operate at a disadvantage" nonsense is this -- if you want to see "operating at a disadvantage", ask about recruiting at one of the service academies. Funny that Notre Dame and their fans generally don't point out that they operate at a distinct structural advantage over three of their traditional opponents. I doubt that the academies can redshirt anyone for any reason.

Looking at the rest of their normal schedule, other than Michigan State, I don't exactly see a bunch knuckle-dragging football factory community colleges. USC, Stanford, Purdue, Duke, Georgia Tech, Michigan in addition to the aforementioned service academies...these are among the nation's most highly regarded undergraduate schools.

If Notre Dame played an SEC schedule like Vandy does, I could see a tiny bit of room for whining. However, unlike Notre Dame, Vandy coaches, players and fans don't whine, and Vandy wins games.

Just from looking at the roster for Navy at E$PiN.com, I didn't see any redshirts (I had to look at the class they were in and compare that to the number of years for stats they had)...

I might have missed one, but it's surely not as widespread (if it exists at all) at the service academies....