I took a hard look at Notre Dame's schedule and as much as I dislike Notre Dame (I think because of Charlie Weis) I had to give it to them, their schedule was tough. Check out who they played:
Purdue, Mich. St., Scum, Miami (FL), Stanford, Oklahoma, USC, and now #1 Alabama. And then of course some not so good teams like BYU and Navy.
All in all that is one hell of a tough schedule. If they beat Bama in the championship, I will have to take my hat off for the Fighting Irish.
You listed Purdue. lol
There isn't a team on their scheduled that the Buckeyes couldn't beat.
"YOLO" = I'm about to do something extremely ignorant/stupid & I need an excuse to do it.
Ya I listed the team that gave the Buckeyes their hardest game all season and a game we should have lost.
Hardest game? You didn't list Wisconsin.
"YOLO" = I'm about to do something extremely ignorant/stupid & I need an excuse to do it.
Really? We SHOULD have lost to Purdue, thus making it our hardest game. And why do you have to make everything an OSU vs the world type of argument?
We never trailed at Wisconsin, we trailed Purdue for a large portion of the game. Purdue was the game we should have lost.
Who said anything about OSU vs the world? :/
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I don't think OSU goes 3-0 against Stanford, OK, and USC.
Run_Fido's favorite word is strawman.
Agreed, Sad to say.
*Sad to say I agree that OSU couldn't win those games, not sad that I agree with you.
4-6 seconds from point A to point B and when you get to point B, be pissed off
Of those teams you listed in the 'good' group... Stanford and Bama are really the only elite type teams they played this year...I wouldnt even throw OU in that group...pretty average OU team this year.
it seems so, but we will learn alot after the cotton bowl against TAM
Stanford and OU are both very good teams. I wouldn't say either is elite. But two very good teams is pretty solid for a regular season schedule.
BYU is no joke. They lost their 5 games by 13 points.
The lost 42-24 to OrSU. That alone is more than 13 points.
BYU also lost to a 5-7 Utah team.
"YOLO" = I'm about to do something extremely ignorant/stupid & I need an excuse to do it.
They lost 4 of the games other than Oregon State by a total of 13 points. Still, 5 losses by 31 points.
Class of 2010.
Miami... Really?
Ohio State's band SLAUGHTERED Michigan's band. If this were a football game, it would have been Florida State vs. Savannah State. - SB Nation following OSU vs. UM 2012
Buckeyes played the first 3 teams, I wouldn't call that a tough schedule there. I think if you look at the names it looks like a tough schedule but when you think about all the teams that had down years, only 2 that I would consider to be tough are Bama and Stanford. Haven't played Bama yet and should have probably lost to Standford.
I think our schedule by actual tough teams to play could measure to that except Stanford or Bama. The names aren't as big but played some tough teams.
Their schedule would've looked stronger if the two schools from the state up north had panned out to what people thought they were going to be before the season. It's a good regular season schedule with Stanford and OU, but overrated like the schedules that SEC teams tend to have.
Class of 2010.
Can't blame the Irish for the type of seasons the usual dynasty teams had this year. Such as USC and Miami but we had Miami on our schedule when they were not at their best and it was still a big deal for us.
It could've been the hardest schedule ever if those teams were up to par. Although I think Stanford over achieved this year. Still..there's no UAB's or Miami of Ohios on there. Congrats to them. Great season!
Run_Fido's favorite word is strawman.
I seem to recall a little game they played against Pitt?
Any team that goes undefeated has accomplished something special. Could Urbz take the team head to head against any of them (including ND?) I'd like to think so but thats the mystery we all have to live with. For now I'll live with 12-0 (H).
Nothing like dancing on the field in 02...
At the beginning of the season I heard "ND has the toughest schedule in CB." Then ND goes undefeated (though Stanford got screwed in OT) and all the sudden the schedule isn't that tough?
Bama, Stanford, and OU are really good. As for the rest, there aren't many cupcakes. Many tough match ups. Miami had a tough year but it’s still a quality win.
As annoying as ND fans are, I really hope they beat 'Bama I am just so sick of this SEC crap.
So you're saying beating an average Miami team, being handed the Pitt game, and beating a USC team without Barkley is impressive?
I'd rather have Ohio State stop the SEEECEE bs. ND fans are almost as bad as M*chigan fans.
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We also won way too many close games, and had a little luck as well, during our 2002 title season. Funny that noone mentions that, but ppl are all to quick to jump on ND for the same thing...
That's not true at all. The games against Cal, Purdue, and Indiana(as if it was a back and forth thing) are always mentioned.
ND also didn't have a crap load of injuries like Ohio State did all year.
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hmmm, starting cornerback tore his achilles in preseason camp, starting safety tore achilles in the Michigan State game, Eifert had a concussion that made him basically non existent for two games, safety that replaced Slaughter broke his hand and played the last three games wtih metal rods in his hand, Golson missed the last drive against Stanford and the BYU game with a concussion, starting OLB missed the first 2 games with head injuries, starting WR broke his collar bone against BC, another WR missed a lot of time with a back injury. Other than that there weren't very many injuries for ND this year...
You need to re-watch 2012 Pittsburgh @ Notre Dame and then tell me that ND is tough.
6-6 Pittsburgh took the Irish to 3 over-times... IN SOUTH BEND. The same Pittsburgh team that lost Youngstown State and UConn. Pittsburgh had the Irish reeling until the fourth quarter when their choking commenced.
Bama is going to roll these guys.
#fistpumpgobuckeyes
And Purdue took our mighty Buckeyes to OT. Sometimes teams have a bad game but ND prevailed in the end (sorta like that great 2002 Buckeye team).
Looking only at the Pitt game is as unfair as looking exclusivley at the OU game in which ND won 30-13
You do remember Braxton missed the entire 4th quarter, right? Not to mention ND was gifted that game against Pitt.
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They were also gifted the game with Stanford via the refs. However, ND won all of their games. Yes there were close calls but ND still beat: Stanford*, USC, TTUN, Oklahoma. They also blew out UM (even in a down year it is impressive to win by nearly 40 points). That is impressive. Pitt is an outlier if you look at their season as a whole.
That Miami D has been terrible this year. The offense blew chance after chance to score. The opening drive the WR dropped a wide open pass that probably changes all of the momentum.
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Its not a crime to give a team you don't like credit when it is due. Just saying...
@BUCKEYEVSTHEWORLD
Why do you have to turn everything into a "but OSU could have done that too" type of arguement? Are you that much of a homer that the only good team you recognize is OSU? I mean com'on man ND played a tough schedule and got sum lucky bounces along the way but that doesnt mean theyre not a good football team. Like others have said, in 2002 we had ALOT of luck help us along the way. Its ok to give credit to another team besides OSU...
Yes, Purdue took us to OT but that same Boilermaker squad was tied with the Irish with 2 minutes to play in South Bend.
Comparing Purdue to Pittsburgh is bs. There isn't a loss on Purdue's schedule that is comparable to Youngstown State or UConn.
#fistpumpgobuckeyes
The general point is: no team plays every game perfect, let downs happen. Should tOSU been in such a close match with Purdue or Indiana? No, tOSU was superior to those teams, they played down to the level of competition. However, tOSU WON. Well that point is true for the Irish. Taking Pitt and multiplying it by 12 is essentially the point that was being made by others which isn't fair.
Yes the Irish had a let down game or two, and yes the Irish really whopped ass in a game or two. Overall the schedule was fairly tough and ND won all of its games = impressive.
Purdue also doesn't have a decent win on their schedule.
Pitt has two: VT and Rutgers.
Not to mention our best player was on his way to the hospital about halfway through the third quarter. That'll deflate a team. I was really proud of the way our squad rallied.
@Citrus I couldnt agree more with the points you are making in this thread.
Why thank you, I just earned the ability to upvote and you received my first.
I agree. Citrus is making some really valid points but I guess folks around here refuse to take off their scarlet & grey blinders...
Pitt didn't choke against ND. They had ND 4th and long with 8 mins left in the 4th quarter, up by 14, and the refs called Pass Interference against Pitt, when the Pitt defender didn't even touch the ND receiver. ND gets a first down and commences to score. I'd say Pitt got sucker punched by the refs, and then unraveled.
ND had a tough schedule and a great year. They have a top notch football coach.
That said, I despise ND. I despise Alabama/SEC. I want them both to lose in the BCS NC Game. If ND can avoid falling behind by more than 10 points early and plays with a positive turnover margin, I think they will beat 'Bama. ND's QB play will be key, he reminds me alot of Krenzel in '02.
All you can do is make a schediule, many times years in advance, and win the games you play. If a team turns out to be worse than you expected when making the schedule there is little you can do about it.
They won at Oklahoma... That's never an easy feat
/Duff'd It
I hate ND but I LOVE their schedule!
Michigan and MSU* are games they chose to schedule.
Oklahoma and Stanford and USC* were courageous teams for ND to schedule, and so was BYU*
Even the cupcakes were well thought out traditional rivals rather than our scheduling of, say UAB. Purdue is geographic and tradition, Pitt & Navy* are Golden Helmet traditional schools and Navy is a traditional rival.
Guts, tradition and imagination get my vote to the NCS - too bad they will get the living sh8t kicked out of them!!
* I give them huge ups for scheduling these teams (SC, MSU, BYU) whose relatively down years could not have been anticipated at the time of the scheduling. And Navy + BC were mediocre at time of scheduling rather than terrible.
In September it looked like the hardest schedule in college football history. But after the season has played out, I really don't think it lived up to its billing. Not to say it wasn't tough, but it ended up being pretty average tough.
If you wanna get sick at your stomach, take a good long look at OSU's schedule for 2013. It's pitifully easy. It's pretty much a joke of a schedule. I've had fans from other teams rip on it and say that OSU has no other choice but to go undefeated, which I believe is true. And I also believe that our 2013 schedule could keep us from getting in the National Title game. Our conference will more than likely be weak once again and our OOC games include a D1-AA team.
Just looked at it. Didn't someone drop us at the last second and that's why we have to schedule the D1-AA team (which I assume is Florida A&M)?
http://www.elevenwarriors.com/2013-football-schedule
#fistpumpgobuckeyes
Vandy.
The schedule this year was stronger before Cincy backed out.
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Saying Vandy dropped out gives too much credit to Gene Smith, because when we scheduled them, they had not improved yet, so it was equivalent to scheduling Kentucky ... absent the geographic attraction
Looks like 11W hasn't updated the schedule.
We had Vandy scheduled and they backed out. But when Vandy dropped us the replacement game OSU picked up was San Diego State. Sadly, Florida A&M was already on the schedule.
So we've got Buffalo, California, San Diego State, & Florida A&M in the OOC.
Then in B1G play we drop Nebraska and Michigan State, which are 2 of the better B1G games we could have on a conference schedule, and pick up Iowa (crappy) and Northwestern(a formidable opponent.)
Any chance they can drop A&M for Cincy?
"YOLO" = I'm about to do something extremely ignorant/stupid & I need an excuse to do it.
I would think it's probably way too late to be changing the schedule, but I don't know for sure. I would love to drop that A&M game though. Obviously if it was Texas A&M, I'd say keep it! But sadly, it's Florida A&M and a D1-AA team at that.
Man I wish Buckeye -- That A&M game on the schedule is embarrassing. There are more than enough FBS teams to not ever need to schedule an FCS opponent.
I would like to watch the Cincy game but I think tOSU should try to avoid teams like the Bearcats because there is no winning. If the Buckeyes win it is "well they were supposed to" but Cinci is good enough to pull an upset every so often that would derail the season. Although, this schedule stinks and I would rather play Cinci than Florida A&M.
In the future, I hope the schedule looks like this: 1 cupcake (maybe an instate team), 1 tough out of confrence team (like the days of Texas, and USC), 10 confrence games, 1 B1G championship, 1 Bowl Game, 1 NC game (which the Buckeyes win).
Thats one hell of a tough schedule they ran through period. Anybody who tries to critique that schedule and downplay it should be checked for insanity. OU, Stanford, scUM, and USC are no cupcakes and Miami always has talent on the field. Im really not sure how some of you can say we (OSU) could play with anybody this year when our schedule was pretty pathetic, yet turn around and not give Notre Dame credit for running through this hellacious schedule?? Wow give credit where credit is due...
I think the credit they should get is for playing so many conferences. They played a good mix of schools.Can we stop with the "should have lost" comments. It's wins and loses there is no "should've lost" or "moral victory" column in football.
Wherever you are, there you be!
^^^^^ This...... "Almost" or "close to" only applies in horse shoes and hand grenades. Look I despise ND with a passion, but I will say it. They played multiple traditional powers and won against all of them. Sure some of those teams didn't play up to preseason billing, but either way a win is a win. Yah they struggled with a couple games, but that is the beauty of college football. Upsets happen all the time. Trust me even if we go undefeated next year do you really think we will look unbeatable in every single game? No you all know about trap games and guarantee you we will have a close one or two, but as long as we win that is all that matters just sayin..... End rant
When I was a young private competing for the Expert Infantry Badge, I just missed the area that my grenade was supposed to land in by 2 inches. I thought "damn! the one time when that saying woulda applied and it isn't true!"
Ah a fellow servicemen. I too have expercienced funny situations like that in my military life when I was in. Actually reminds of the time I was in country back in 08 when we were doing convoy security on route to FOB rustamiyah. My truck and the truck ahead of me received fire from an alley way and I heard the bullets hit both our truck and the one ahead of us I saw muzzle flash and returned fire promptly and we went on our way because they ceased fire from the alley. I thought nothing of it until i got back to Liberty east and spent the next 2 hours having a LTC give me a long talking to about how muzzle flash isnt PID. I thought to myself i guess maybe the shooter couldn't tell we were an american convoy light up like a christmas tree at night less than 40 meters away. lol ah how I miss it sometimes.
Officers can be so pedantic. Nothing like being ambushed ajacent to one of the best known landmarks in country on a named route and being told that higher "needs a grid square before any resources can be sent." I miss it sometimes but boy do I not miss it others. But we digress. haha
yes yes we disgress lol