Take your Blue and White goggles off for this question...

[OhioLion]

If Notre Dame played in the B1G, followed the normal schedule of three OOC games then nine conference games (I know this does have some changes and conference games have been played in the first three games of the season), had crossover games with 2/4 of UM, MSU, OSU or PSU each year, where do they finish?
Assuming they’d play in the west.
Now, predict if they played in the east.

Just curious. TIA.

EDIT: I agree with Fairfax and was thinking the same thing.
If they played in the East they would have two or three losses.

OL

 

[fairfaxlion2]

If Notre Dame played in the B1G, followed the normal schedule of three OOC games then nine conference games (I know this does have some changes and conference games have been played in the first three games of the season), had crossover games with 2/4 of UM, MSU, OSU or PSU each year, where do they finish?
Assuming they’d play in the west.
Now, predict if they played in the east.

Just curious. TIA.

OL

If they played in the West, I think they might have gone 11-1 this year, and may or may not have won the conference title game. If they played in the East they would have two or three losses.

 

[christoph]

They look very good and balanced this year Would not lose more than one game.

 

[EPC FAN]

If Notre Dame played in the B1G, followed the normal schedule of three OOC games then nine conference games (I know this does have some changes and conference games have been played in the first three games of the season), had crossover games with 2/4 of UM, MSU, OSU or PSU each year, where do they finish?
Assuming they’d play in the west.
Now, predict if they played in the east.

Just curious. TIA.

EDIT: I agree with Fairfax and was thinking the same thing.
If they played in the East they would have two or three losses.

OL

If Penn State played this schedule and went unbeaten, they’d get shredded by the hypocrites in the media. They’d be left out.
https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/notre-dame/2018-schedule.html

 

[MohawkLion]

If they played in the west, then that means they at least played Ohio state in the CCG. If in the east, they’d have one or two losses.

 

[nittanyfan333]

I guess when you have the luxury of making the schedule whatever you want it to be, you can front-load your schedule and catch good teams before they get on a roll, the load the back end of your schedule with cupcakes.

 

[SUPERTODD]

They look very good and balanced this year Would not lose more than one game.

Did you watch any of their games? They beat Pitt by 5 AT HOME. They beat 4-8 Ball State by 8 AT HOME. The next week Ball State lost by 28 to Indiana. They looked good in two games this year against solid teams- Michigan early and Syracuse late. In BIG play they don’t play Michigan early. They would have lost 3 or 4 games against a BIG East schedule and 2 or 3 with a BIG West schedule.

 

[Obliviax]

They beat Michigan. We didn't. Nor did anyone else that doesn't have a nut for a mascot. ND earned their door IMHO.

 

[BBHorn86]

They look very good and balanced this year Would not lose more than one game.

They won't come within three TDs of Clemson. They are a fraud! They have the college football history on their side which seduces people into giving them more respect than they deserve. Not unlike Michigan who never seems to win the big games which has been the case for decades.

 

[Connorpozlee]

I think they would probably have still been undefeated. The already beat Michigan. The only question would be whether or not they beat Ohio State in the championship game.
Then again, playing in a conference is a whole different ballgame than being an independent.

 

[FloridaLion02]

If Notre Dame has our schedule I’d assume they’d have 1-2 losses. No guarantee they’d beat all of MSU, Iowa, Wisky or even UMD for that matter. Ohio State has a better team in my opinion than ND but for ND that’s a toss up game. They have a good team this year but they are not elite by any stretch of the imagination, I think they play Clemson close since I’m not terribly impressed with Clemson either given who they’ve had to play this year

 

[NittanyOpp]

That schedule is a complete joke. To some degree, its not their fault as Michigan Stanford USC usually good, but only Michigan was this year and it was opening week at home. But until they join a conference and have to play on the last weekend like basically everyone else giving their all for Final 4 and being criticized, they should be left out. Join a conference and have to play 13 games or forfeit the opportunity.

 

[fastlax16]

That schedule is a complete joke. To some degree, its not their fault as Michigan Stanford USC usually good, but only Michigan was this year and it was opening week at home. But until they join a conference and have to play on the last weekend like basically everyone else giving their all for Final 4 and being criticized, they should be left out. Join a conference and have to play 13 games or forfeit the opportunity.

The committee has said playing in conference championship games doesn’t matter. They’ve put teams in that haven’t played in one three years running. This isn’t new or Notre Dame specific.

 

[psute]

They'll be out in the first round...

 

[kijanacat]

Wow! Hard to believe what some people think. uND played a good schedule this year although their opponents were not as good as in some prior years, USC and Stanford are two. Pitt has some better years but are capable of giving someone a tought time. Syracuse was good this year.
They did beat two teams that beat us, Michigan and MSU so there's that. They would have done well in the B1G (btw, I dislike uND and wish they would be excluded from the playoffs until they join a conference).
They have a traditional style of offense so it is difficult to predict how they stack up against Clemson. The feeling is they will be a big underdog for this one but I wouldn't discard them.
I am going to have a hard time with these teams as I hope all of them lose.

 

[YorkLion]

They looked very good in some games and not so much in others ……. pretty much the same as us. I believe they would have beaten us no matter which field we played on.

 

[Get Nasty]

If Notre Dame played in the B1G, followed the normal schedule of three OOC games then nine conference games (I know this does have some changes and conference games have been played in the first three games of the season), had crossover games with 2/4 of UM, MSU, OSU or PSU each year, where do they finish?
Assuming they’d play in the west.
Now, predict if they played in the east.

Just curious. TIA.

EDIT: I agree with Fairfax and was thinking the same thing.
If they played in the East they would have two or three losses.

OL

West undefeated, East one loss max. If nd did lose, 50/50 it would have been only against OSU. PSU's Lines would have been destroyed vs ND just like they were vs UM.

 

[Get Nasty]

Did you watch any of their games? They beat Pitt by 5 AT HOME. They beat 4-8 Ball State by 8 AT HOME. The next week Ball State lost by 28 to Indiana. They looked good in two games this year against solid teams- Michigan early and Syracuse late. In BIG play they don’t play Michigan early. They would have lost 3 or 4 games against a BIG East schedule and 2 or 3 with a BIG West schedule.

Dumb comment of the day award.

 

[Get Nasty]

I think they would probably have still been undefeated. The already beat Michigan. The only question would be whether or not they beat Ohio State in the championship game.
Then again, playing in a conference is a whole different ballgame than being an independent.

You are right, playing in a conference is much much easier. Less travel, similar opponents and style of play. Only extra challenge of a conf is the championship game.

 

[Get Nasty]

Nd already beat the second best team in the big ten. Nd owns MSU and purdue. Penn State is a soft team with great skill, like syracuse. Middle of the year, OSU has no shot vs ND, now they probably would be a slight favorite because they are peaking.

 

[Get Nasty]

Dumb comment of the day award.

Yeah they didn't crush vtech, stanford, and go into NW and win by double digits at night. Yes the first two weren't as good as their name implies this year, but saying those weren't good wins is like PSU not taking pride in whipping UM last year in 2017. Yes UM wasn't the same team as this year, but still the name, brand, big game, with talent still makes it tough.

 

[Media Fan]

Would have been 11-1 , which is what PSU should have been IMO.

 

[Still in State College]

Looking at any of the top 4 teams show schedules that are iffy. Clemson had Furman, GaSouthern, A&M, and So Carolina out of conference and a bunch of 7-5 conference teams. Oklahoma had FLA Atl, UCLA, and Army out of conference then the same type of conference games as Clemson.

In order to really be a contender year in and out you need to good conference teams and a bunch that will be about .500. Take care of business and it looks good because some of those .500 teams will have good wins.

 

[dbsteel]

They already beat Michigan, MSU, and Northwestern out of the Big 10, so I'd say on either side, they'd have one loss max. Their schedule on paper looked pretty strong on paper, but some of those teams have seen better days.

But having Michigan, Northwestern, MSU, VT, USC, Stanford, Pitt, Florida State, and Syracuse on the schedule (among others) is nothing to sneeze at a lot of years.

 

[Howie'81]

They look very good and balanced this year Would not lose more than one game.

No way of really knowing though.

 

[bdgan]

If Penn State played this schedule and went unbeaten, they’d get shredded by the hypocrites in the media. They’d be left out.
https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/notre-dame/2018-schedule.html

ND's schedule would have been respectable if Florida State and USC weren't unusually bad this year. With those teams being down Syracuse was their toughest opponent after Michigan.

 

[EPC FAN]

If they played in the west, then that means they at least played Ohio state in the CCG. If in the east, they’d have one or two losses.

Mcc

ND's schedule would have been respectable if Florida State and USC weren't unusually bad this year. With those teams being down Syracuse was their toughest opponent after Michigan.

They weren’t, so it isn’t.

 

[EPC FAN]

You are right, playing in a conference is much much easier. Less travel, similar opponents and style of play. Only extra challenge of a conf is the championship game.

Not to mention tough games on consecutive weeks. No adjusting for rummy’s before and after tough games. I’m talking really physical games.

 

[PennStateNate]

They be 12-0 or 11-1. I still laugh at this board thinking Big Ten is some super conference.

 

[pawildcat]

You are right, playing in a conference is much much easier. Less travel, similar opponents and style of play. Only extra challenge of a conf is the championship game.

You're nuts if you think playing in a good P5 conference is much easier. If you don't come ready to play, any conference opponent other than perhaps the bottom 2-3 can eat your lunch in a given week. Ask Ohio State about that

 

[pawildcat]

They be 12-0 or 11-1. I still laugh at this board thinking Big Ten is some super conference.

LOL. This is the first time in years they would have had a legitimate shot at winning the Big Ten.

 

[anon_1eeb2b426hv3y]

They beat Michigan. We didn't. Nor did anyone else that doesn't have a nut for a mascot. ND earned their door IMHO.

Agreed. ND definitely deserves to be in the CFP this year. In fact, several times this weekend (as ND was at home and the other 3 playoff contestants were playing) I came back to the fact that the CFP worked out this year. There were 3 undefeated P5 teams. In the BCS era and prior to the CFP in general, ND would have been left out. Between OK, OSU, etc., i get the disappointment and arguments but neither had the claim ND had since neither was undefeated.

ALSO, they'll get dogged, just like they did last time the played for a championship. I agree ND wouldn't be in the CFP if they were in the B1G. They'd have 2-3 losses, but they caught a flat Michigan early and they played several solid programs having down years.

 

[bdgan]

They be 12-0 or 11-1. I still laugh at this board thinking Big Ten is some super conference.

ND's toughest games:

1. Michigan (Shea Patterson's 1st game at Michigan)
2. Syracuse

I'm not criticizing ND. They had no way of knowing that USC, Florida State, and Va Tech would have all been .500 or below. But if ND had to play OSU, PSU, Wisconsin, Iowa, etc. their schedule would have been much more difficult.

 

[Uh Clem]

According to Sagarin ratings, the ND strength of schedule was 42nd. This compares favorably to Alabama (44), Clemson (48), OSU (40), Michigan (30) and Penn State (38). Frankly I was surprised as like some others, i thought their SOS was pretty weak.

 

[SUPERTODD]

Dumb comment of the day award.

Wait to refute nothing, Troll.

 

[PSU Dave]

I didn't see much of Clemson all year but a lot of ND. One thing ND's defense didn't see all year until USC was speed and skill on the outside. USC exploited that all night and I'd imagine Clemson will do the same. Line opened at 10 and immediately jumped to 11.5 I don't like NDs chances in this game.

 

[AuthorJoe]

I didn't see much of Clemson all year but a lot of ND. One thing ND's defense didn't see all year until USC was speed and skill on the outside. USC exploited that all night and I'd imagine Clemson will do the same. Line opened at 10 and immediately jumped to 11.5 I don't like NDs chances in this game.

Both ND and Clemson will be facing their toughest opponent to date on the 29th. I think this will be a close game that could go either way. In terms of USC ND made halftime adjustments and pretty much dominated the second half.

 

[KCLion]

They already beat Michigan, MSU, and Northwestern out of the Big 10, so I'd say on either side, they'd have one loss max. Their schedule on paper looked pretty strong on paper, but some of those teams have seen better days.

But having Michigan, Northwestern, MSU, VT, USC, Stanford, Pitt, Florida State, and Syracuse on the schedule (among others) is nothing to sneeze at a lot of years.

They did not play MSU!

 

[Crusher1950]

They would be us by at least 2 tds