College football week 15 thread: Brutus of Spanish Leather

[Jake from State Farm]

lono claims to have been a member of the Church of the Exploding Hand Buzzer. Your fellow congregant might want to look into it.

 

[Chet Lemon]

There is this idiotic notion that teams shouldn't be penalized for playing an "extra game." No way Alabama should have gotten in over Notre Dame, and I say that despite my strong dislike for Notre Dame.

The “one way wratchet” aspect of it is just wrong. A team can play its way in, but not out?

 

[kickoff-time]

Sometimes I hate being right.

Notre Dame has turned down more bowl bids than any team in history, mostly because they focused on the regular season when polls determined the national champion, plus they deemed bowls exhibitions. Their nearly dozen championships also gives them a fairly large ego allowing them to turn down bowls they feel are beneath them. They most recently turned down a bowl bid in 2009 when Charlie Weis was fired right after the regular season and they were just 6-6. Notre Dame might not have the cache it once did and has steadfastly refused to join a conference. They likely would have won the ACC this year, despite losing to Miami, and been in the playoff.

I still give them credit for this move.

 

[Chet Lemon]

More seriously, doesn’t this make the portal more attractive to their players?

Why? Because they don’t have to stick around to play in some meaningless exhibition game?

 

[Chet Lemon]

I know it’s like the Hall of Fame and the voters evolve, but if I were a member of the 1993 Notre Dame team, I’d be pretty damn pissed tonight.

 

[micropolitan guy]

More seriously, doesn’t this make the portal more attractive to their players?

Why? The players decided they won't play, not the administration. I think they'd be happy the administration listened to them and followed their wishes, rather than forcing them to play in some second-tier bowl, which for them would be entirely meaningless.

Go home, enjoy a real 3-4 week Christmas break like every other student. I loved Christmas break when I was a student.

 

[micropolitan guy]

Imagine if the readings at church were given like SportsCenter highlights! da da duh, da da DA

Today's top 10, starting with Mark chapter 4, verse 32!

 

[dixiehack]

Today's top 10, starting with Mark chapter 4, verse 32!

We are in Isaiah, the one book of the Bible longer than the selection show.

 

[micropolitan guy]

We are in Isaiah, the one book of the Bible longer than the selection show.

Is that verse "Thou must be under center on 3rd-and-short," or "Thou must stay in-bounds and keep the clock moving in the final minute?"

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

And here comes Saban saying it’s a joke that Tulane and James Madison are in, when Notre Dame would clobber them both. He’s not wrong.

It will soon be four best conference champs.

The Field of 68 has no idea what you’re talking about.

 

[dixiehack]

Is that verse "Thou must be under center on 3rd-and-short," or "Thou must stay in-bounds and keep the clock moving in the final minute?"

It’s the Old Testament, so probably. Might be Leviticus though.

 

[BTExpress]

If players don't want to play a bowl, they don't want to play a bowl.

But the ONLY reason you are on this campus and being paid and educated is to PLAY FOOTBALL, so . . .

If a game being "meaningless to them" is now our measuring stick, a lot of football has been played this year --- especially for 2-8 teams in November --- that would meet that criteria.

 

[Batman]

If players don't want to play a bowl, they don't want to play a bowl.

But the ONLY reason you are on this campus and being paid and educated is to PLAY FOOTBALL, so . . .

If a game being "meaningless to them" is now our measuring stick, a lot of football has been played this year --- especially for 2-8 teams in November --- that would meet that criteria.

And now that they are being paid — sizable amounts, at that — I'm curious what their NIL contracts have to say about it. Are bowl games included?
If you want to be paid like a professional then at some point you have to accept some of the less desirable obligations that come with it, whether that's slogging through November for a 2-8 team or playing in a second-tier bowl game in Shreveport or Boise.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

They shouldn’t release the in-season rankings if they don’t actually matter.

Or just not at all.

 

[Sam Mills 51]

I like taking Miami over N.D. — if you can’t break the tie based on a head to head result, how can you?

But I agree with these talking heads, if Notre Dame is rated ahead of Miami coming into the final week, what changed if neither team played?

I say Virginia losing to Duke made the difference. Throw the ACC a bone.

IMO, best of both worlds.

Is the ACC the SEC or Big Ten? Uh ... no. But IMO, deserved a seat at the table, if only one.

And as much as I like the idea of giving the little guys a shot, it would have been a bit hypocritical of me to go there and claim Tulane and James Madison didn't deserve their shots.

What amazes me is Notre Dame being told to stay home. As political as this usually gets, the Irish almost always get benefits of the doubt.

Almost always ...

 

[Sam Mills 51]

Stop it, ACC. Just stop. You're embarrassing yourself.

Maybe.

But just what is Diaz supposed to do? Claim he doesn't give a sh_t?

If he does that, not only would his current players not stand up for him, but he would also have just shot himself and the program in the proverbial foot and jeopardized any chances of future recruits going to Durham out of high school and/or through the portal.

They all have to state their cases. Those who don't will be perceived as people who shouldn't be with those programs.

And no, I didn't write the rules.

 

[Sam Mills 51]

The arrogance from this is amazing.

Maybe the players didn't want to go anywhere else. I understand if they're POed ... I think that's implied given that they feel like the odd program out of the playoff.

But when Chapel Hill's men's program declined to play in any postseason gathering after it felt unfairly omitted from the NCAA Tournament, they were roasted around here. Rightfully so.

 

[waterytart]

Why? Because they don’t have to stick around to play in some meaningless exhibition game?

Why? The players decided they won't play, not the administration. I think they'd be happy the administration listened to them and followed their wishes, rather than forcing them to play in some second-tier bowl, which for them would be entirely meaningless.

Go home, enjoy a real 3-4 week Christmas break like every other student. I loved Christmas break when I was a student.

Because nobody goes to Notre Dame hoping to get a chance to snub the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

 

[tapintoamerica]

And now that they are being paid — sizable amounts, at that — I'm curious what their NIL contracts have to say about it. Are bowl games included?
If you want to be paid like a professional then at some point you have to accept some of the less desirable obligations that come with it, whether that's slogging through November for a 2-8 team or playing in a second-tier bowl game in Shreveport or Boise.

1) Second-tier is too high an assignation for Shreveport or Boise.
2) I agree that players have abdicated the right to complain about having to play in bowls when they're getting paid. And I, too, am very curious about contracts. Maybe they are giving up salary. That's the way these deals should be structured.
3) In the case of Iowa State and Kansas State, there's no way administrators just put the issue to a team vote. They knew the vote would be no, and they were more than OK with it.

 

[micropolitan guy]

Because nobody goes to Notre Dame hoping to get a chance to snub the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

Nobody goes there hoping to play in the Duke's Mayo Bowl, either.