The SEC edged out the Big East Conference for the highest non-conference winning percentage in 2006. Counting bowl games, the SEC was 47-10 against non-conference foes, an 82.45 winning percentage. The Big East, with a 5-0 bowl record, finished with a 37-8 non-conference record, which equates to an 82.22 winning percentage. The SEC is the only league to currently have four football coaches who have won national championship. Steve Spurrier, South Carolina (won title in 1996 while head coach at Florida) Phillip Fulmer, Tennessee (won title in 1999) Nick Saban, Alabama (won title in 2003 while head coach at LSU) Urban Meyer, Florida (won title in 2006)
Obviously, you don't understand or appreciate the importance of tradition to demean ND's traditon of playing the service academies. We're talking about a rivalry that goes back to almost a hundred years ago. It was in 1913 that ND defeated powerhouse Army with the forward pass, which revolutionized the game of college football. Should LSU never play Tulane again because of Tulane's struggles on the field, despite the historical rivarly between the two schools. And, ND owes a debt of honor to Navy. During WWII, a number of universities, including ND, came close to the brink of insolvency. But, Navy rescued ND by making it one of its training centers and thereby paid enough to ND to keep it afloat. ND's annual game against Navy is a way of repaying Navy for keeping ND afloat during the lean years of war. The ND-Navy game generates enough money for Navy to subsidize the rest of its athletic department. Given all the sacrifices the cadets make for our country, I don't think its asking too much for ND to repay that.
I agree there is no reason to ever play Toolame in anything. It's also a way to pad Notre Dames schedule with patsies giving them the number of wins necessary to make the BCS. However ND didn't earn the right and didn't deserve to play in any bowl above the Independence Bowl. Just like the little stuttering leprechaun on ESPN ND fans are blinded by the glow of the past. ND has been a middle of the pack also ran for years now and shows no sign of turning it around. If you think you are going to come here with your weak ass schedule and blowout losses and convince fans of a real team in a real conference that you belong your wasting your time and ours.
No, I understand completely, it's a traditoin to fill your schedule with pu$$ies! See 1913 (you brought this year up) as an example W/L ......Date...................PF........ Opponent..................PA.......................Location W .........10-04-1913.......87........Ohio Northern..........................0............South Bend, IN W..........10-18-1913.......20........South Dakota...........................7............South Bend, IN W..........10-25-1913.......62.........Alma (MI).................................0.............South Bend, IN W..........11-01-1913.......35.........Army (NY)...............................13...........West Point, NY W..........11-07-1913.......14.........Penn St....................................7.............State College, PA W..........11-22-1913.......20........Christian Brothers (MO) .......7.............Saint Louis, MO W .........11-27-1913.......30........Texas........................................7.............Austin, TX The big difference is that at one time ND could actually compete with the 2 real teams on their schedule every year. Unfortunately for you, those days are long gone.
That is a calumny that ND purposely sets up a weak schedule to inflate its win and loss record. ND has a history of scheduling and playing top programs- texas, ohio state, oklahoma, miami, fsu, penn state, alabama, georgia tech, and pitt as well as annual games against powerhouses like michigan and usc. The problem is that like every other college football schedule, ND has no control over how good its opponents will be since these schedules were scheduled years in advance. ND played and beat PSU, the year after it was playing in a BCS bowl game. And, two years ago, ND's schedule was considered so brutal that most experts ND to go something like 1-5. And, its a disservice to call the service academies 'patsies'. They've all played in bowl games in recent years. ND's games with Army and Navy are a sacred traditon, spanning almost a hundred years. Tradition is integral to college football, and should not be cheaply tossed aside. If more programs had such historic rivalries, where they played each other for almost a hundred years, then more programs could appreciate ND's games against the service academies. Let's remember that this rivalry extends back to an era when Army was one of the top teams in the nation, where ND-Army game was the biggest game in college football. ND didn't schedule Army because it was a patsy. But, through all these years, Army has become an integral part of the traditon of ND despite no longer being a powerhouse. And, if we don't play the service academies anymore, then surely the terrorists have won.
I'm dreaming right? He didn't say that, did he?:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: Rack this one boys. Make it your signature. You are seeing the single most ludicrous statement ever posted on Tiger (or any other) Forums.
It's a shame he didn't write it a couple of days earlier. W would have probably used it in his speech. :lol:
great .... but it doesn't change the fact that the football programs at the service acadamies are relatively weak opponents. To claim Notre Dame has a "tough" schedule is a transparent argument
OK, OK BitterND. I will grudgingly agree that ND can't be faulted for playing the service academies. HOWEVER, this thread is about ND not deserving a BCS Bowl bid. It may not be ND's fault that the teams they schedule SUCK @ football, but strength of schedule cannot be quantified by how good teams USED to be. If ND would join a conference, ANY BCS conference, they could EARN their way into a BCS Bowl every year, and nobody would have anything negative to say about their SOS. No doubt in my mind that in most years, ND would compete for the title in the Big East. In the Big 11, they would struggle at first, but would make the conference stronger immediately. In the Big 12, this year, they probably would've finished second in the North, and also would've made that conference better. BUT, they're not in a conference, so all of this is a moot point, and they will continue to be the object of criticism by those fans of the SEC, the undisputed strongest conference in the country.:thumb:
Yep, Army has played in a whopping 4 bowl games in the past 22 years!! Holy Sh!t that's an impressive accomplishment. [qote=bitterND;538427]ND's games with Army and Navy are a sacred traditon, spanning almost a hundred years.[/quote] So sacred, that the Army series is filled with 5, 7, even 10 year gaps where the game wasn't even played? LSU has played EACH of the following schools more times than ND has played Army (49 times) Bama - 70 times Arky - 52 times Florida - 53 times Kentucky - 54 times Ole Miss - 95 times Miss St. - 100 times In fact, your most played rivalries are both @ 78 games, Purdue and USC (that's right, not Navy) We have played 2 schools more than that Ole Miss - 95 Miss St. - 100 Y'all have played Navy 70 times Same as we have played Bama, except Bama actually has won titles, Navy never has. So does our rivalry with Ole Piss, but we ain't bragging about playing them every year. Your move!
