Quote:
Originally Posted by ulukinatme
Look at the pot calling the kettle black....
This all started because I said Notre Dame could have an easier time getting to a bowl game by joining some conferences rather than playing their own schedule. Playing a PAC-10 schedule where the biggest threats are USC, Oregon, and occasionally one other team would be a blessing compared to some of the schedules we have each year.
I never said that ND wins all their tough games, but they still schedule the tough ones regardless. I would rather take a chance and play a close, exciting game against a tough team than say...steamroll some cupcakes all season. As far as Tennessee goes, there was no way of telling years ago that they would have sucked last year, but Tennessee is usually a good team, so it was a good choice for most years. Tennessee most years would be a much tougher opponent than UCLA, which is the toughest opponent it seems OSU has scheduled outside the Big10 aside from Texas.
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What pot? What kettle? WTF?
The point here is simple: ND fans tout their schedule as being tough. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't, but the names on the schedule are not the determining factor. Yes, Tennessee is good most years, but they weren't last year. Is that your "fault"? Of course not. LIKEWISE: do you get credit for playing a tough game if all you can point to is a "storied" program? Absolutely NOT. Washington State went to the Rose Bowl in 2002 when we played them. Tennessee was 5-6 last year. The Washington State team we beat then was better than the Tennessee team you beat last year, even though they can't point to their "storied" tradition. Hell Minnesota owned college football in the 20's and 30's...should we get credit for playing an elite team everytime we play the Gophers, even if they are 4-7? But, but, but...they have such a storied past! You played Michigan this year and last year...do those victories/losses count the same just because it is Michigan? Uh.....NOT. Look at all the teams beating Florida State now...is that impressive just because they used to be a Top 5 team from 1990-2000? Er...NO. What matters is how good the teams are you play...not how good they were in past years you didn't play them. Get it?
The bottom line is ultra-defensive ND fans can't acknowledge that the schedule you played last year would have been a killer...had it been 1988. But it wasn't. Syracuse, Tennessee, Washington...the rest of the world says "who cares?" Now if UNC was 9-1, Purdue was 9-1, and Air Force was 9-1 this year, you'd all be saying what a tough schedule you played, despite the "tradition" of those schools. You can't have it both ways.