Hypothetical matchup: Oregon vs. Notre Dame

Notre dame would’ve lost to

Oregon
Ohio state
Texas

And maybe Tennessee and Iowa ST on that side of the bracket.

They were blessed to get an Indiana team who never belonged there, a backup QB led Georgia and a Penn state teams who’s best win is SMU or Boise.

Next year Notre dame opens @ Miami, vs. A&M, vs. Purdue, @ Arkansas, vs. Boise, vs. USC… we won’t see them again.

quote:

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Notre dame would’ve lost to
Oregon
Ohio state
Texas

And maybe Tennessee and Iowa ST on that side of the bracket.

They were blessed to get an Indiana team who never belonged there, a backup QB led Georgia and a Penn state teams who’s best win is SMU or Boise.

Next year Notre dame opens @ Miami, vs. A&M, vs. Purdue, @ Arkansas, vs. Boise, vs. USC… we won’t see them again.

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ND is power-rated ahead of Texas (although it’s very close) in basically all advanced metrics (FPI, SP+, Sagarin, FEI, F+…). ND is power-rated ahead of Oregon in FPI and Sagarin and in a virtual tie in SP+, F+ and FEI. An ND-Oregon and ND-Texas spread would each be very close in Vegas (within a few points).

ND is firmly ahead of Tennessee in all those categories and way, way, way ahead of Arizona State (not Iowa State). Like, it’s not even close. ND would be a 14-point favorite over ASU on a neutral field.

ND returns 6 starters on defense and 8 starters on offense. #4 in ESPN’s way-too-early top-25 and #3 in the Athletic’s. ND will almost certainly be back in the 12-team playoff again next year, and then at that point it just depends on things like matchups, health, etc., for how far a team advances.

quote:

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ND is power-rated ahead of Texas (although it’s very close) in basically all advanced metrics (FPI, SP+, Sagarin, FEI, F+…). ND is power-rated ahead of Oregon in FPI and Sagarin and in a virtual tie in SP+, F+ and FEI. An ND-Oregon and ND-Texas spread would each be very close in Vegas (within a few points).

ND is firmly ahead of Tennessee in all those categories and way, way, way ahead of Arizona State (not Iowa State). Like, it’s not even close. ND would be a 14-point favorite over ASU on a neutral field.

ND returns 6 starters on defense and 8 starters on offense. #4 in ESPN’s way-too-early top-25 and #3 in the Athletic’s. ND will almost certainly be back in the 12-team playoff again next year, and then at that point it just depends on things like matchups, health, etc., for how far a team advances.

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Second all of this. I think ND vs Oregon is a toss up. I think ND takes care of the rest of that bracket. OSU and UGA were the two teams I thought were terrible matchups for ND all season.

Losing some defensive starters with 5 years experience and all-American is rough, but the young DB's and DL guys stepped up big this year. Need at least 1 more WR to step up, and interested to see what Carr can do. I'm expecting another great year, and a chance for some big regular season wins.

Who knows? If they play ten times, neither team is winning all ten.