Comments on: The Tracks of our Tiers

By: Big mac

Big mac — Wed, 25 Dec 2013 18:41:58 +0000

It doesn’t matter who they play if they don’t start putting a strong (Yontoish) defense on the field, (and Yes Laz Yonto was defensive coordinator in 1977!!!!!) they will always be mediocre.

By: ND710

ND710 — Wed, 25 Dec 2013 04:01:54 +0000

I see your point, but I can’t say that I agree with your “tier” judgments. Clemson almost certainly is a Tier 1 school…BCS bowls two of three years, another talented recruiting class coming in…and what makes you believe Stanford will go from two consecutive Rose Bowls to Tier 2 quality? I understand the historical component, but victories over both those schools this year would have impressed the playoff committee quite a bit. All else being equal, give me the team with a better history. But the team that’s better now will do the most for the strength of schedule

By: atlantadomer

atlantadomer — Tue, 24 Dec 2013 19:32:24 +0000

We are ND, just win and you’re in because there’s too much money at stake if you leave us out.

Go IRISH.

By: CharlieC

CharlieC — Tue, 24 Dec 2013 03:48:57 +0000

In reply to Martini1990. Yes, absolutely.

By: trey

trey — Mon, 23 Dec 2013 21:25:05 +0000

I disagree with your assessment of Clemson as a Tier 2 team. They are media darlings and will garner a HUGE TV following for that game.

By: Martini1990

Martini1990 — Mon, 23 Dec 2013 17:29:55 +0000

Strongly disagree with a D- for 2016. By your own measure there are 7 Tier 1 or 2 opponents, which is very strong and far better than most BCS conference slates + 1 out of conference heavyweight. I also think Stanford has elevated itself to Tier 1 status (but need to question if UM is still there).

By: ND Chicago

ND Chicago — Mon, 23 Dec 2013 17:16:28 +0000

As much as I hate to see some of the long time rivalries in the Big 10 go away, the truth is that, right now, the ACC is a superior football conference compared to the Big 10 and that ultimately helps ND’s overall strength of schedule going forward. The bigger issue will be whether or not the coaching on both sides of the ball will be improved enough to give ND a chance to win regardless of the opponent(s).

By: John M

John M — Mon, 23 Dec 2013 15:53:38 +0000

In reply to John. What I remember of Clemson stems from the 1977 game, when the Irish converted a 2nd and 40 (or something like that) after the refs called ND for a clipping penalty and an unsportsmanlike conduct on Dan Devine. The same game featured MLB Bob Golic literally throwing the umpire into the Clemson ball carrier after he interfered with Golic for the 3rd time in the game. It didn't happen a 4th time.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 23 Dec 2013 15:22:09 +0000

Nice post. Though personally, I prefer to look at a 5-year rolling period for defining tiers. Therefore, I would personally put teams like Stanford in Tier 1, and teams like Miami in Tier 2. Taking a longer-term view makes sense if you are in charge of planning schedules years in advance … but I’m not the person doing the planning. As a result, I tend to look at schedules more from the standpoint of: “How hard do I think this schedule is going to be in the immediate future.” And right now, Stanford is a stronger class of program than Miami (even with Stanford’s attrition this year, and Miami’s allegedly good recruiting).

FWIW, I would also put teams like Rice and Duke in Tier 3 (nice recent seasons, higher trajectory), and teams like Army in Tier 4 (I view them as the least explosive of the 3 service academies, which are already non-threatening by definition).

By: mark

mark — Mon, 23 Dec 2013 15:19:03 +0000

If you’ve never seen a game at Clemson, this will be a must. One of the best atmospheres in college football.