In a little Independence Day recognition of Notre Dame’s football independence, we’re going to take away that freedom for the weekend, and measure how the Irish would stack up if it were a member of each of the six BCS conferences.
This analysis is far from scientific, as you’ll see, and it is very much open for debate, adjustments, criticisms, deletions, etc.
I’ll try to keep this brief, the beer is in the cooler and the grill has to be operational within the hour.
Weis' Irish would likely stack up well in most Bowl Division conferences in 2009.
Today, we’ll look at Notre Dame in the ACC divisions, the Big 12 divisions and the Big East. Sunday we’ll take a look at how the Irish would hold up in the Pac 10, Big Ten and the SEC divisions.
These are predictions on how the final standings would look with Notre Dame in each BCS conference, and division when applicable.
ACC ATLANTIC
1. Notre Dame
2. Florida State
3. Clemson
4. Boston College
5. Wake Forest
6. Maryland
• It’s a tough division with five bowl teams from last season, but the Irish offense would be too much for any of these teams to deal with. The good defensive players are split too evenly throughout the conference. The game with Florida State – a preseason top 20 outfit – would be good a one, and might depend on where it was played to pick a winner, but the Irish would win this division.
ACC COASTAL
1. Virginia Tech
2. Notre Dame
3. North Carolina
4. Georgia Tech
5. Miami
6. Duke
7. Virginia
• If Virginia Tech wins its game against Alabama on Sept. 5, many experts believe the Hokies could run the table and contend for a spot in the national championship game. Their offense remains a question mark but Virginia Tech’s defense is good enough to slow down any team in the country, including Notre Dame. The Hokies are more familiar with success than Notre Dame, and have won the ACC championship two years in a row. The kings would keep their throne.
BIG 12 NORTH
1. Notre Dame
2. Nebraska
3. Kansas
4. Missouri
5. Colorado
6. Kansas State
7. Iowa State
• Not much for the Irish to worry about in this particular division. In fact, Notre Dame’s offense might pile up 50 points a game playing in the Big 12 North. Nebraska is getting some preseason love with a top 20 ranking, and Kansas is on the cusp of the top 25, but the Huskers will have a new quarterback and return only four starters on offense. The Irish are a lock in this division.
BIG 12 SOUTH
1. Oklahoma
2. Texas
3. Notre Dame
4. Oklahoma State
5. Baylor
6. Texas Tech
7. Texas A&M
• Too much firepower at the top of this list for Notre Dame to hang with. And while the talent and performance gap will close some this year, the Irish haven’t played the caliber of football as Texas and Oklahoma in a long time, and the disparity in these programs remains in place. The Irish could likely score with either of these two top teams, but it would have a tough time slowing either offense down.
BIG EAST
1. Notre Dame
2. Cincinnati
3. West Virginia
4. Pittsburgh
5. South Florida
6. Connecticut
7. Rutgers
8. Louisville
9. Syracuse
• It’s a very balanced conference, but clearly not loaded with great players or great teams. If the Irish played in the Big East, they could already punch their ticket to the BCS. Of course, this is a good conference to measure Notre Dame’s worth in, given that the Irish play a couple of teams picked to finish in the middle of the Big East pack in Pittsburgh and Connecticut. The Irish should have too much firepower on both sides of the ball for any Big East team to match, and we’ll have a small sample to find out if that’s the case.
|