(09-06-2017 11:15 AM)_C2_ Wrote:  

(09-06-2017 10:11 AM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  

(09-06-2017 09:28 AM)_C2_ Wrote:  

(09-06-2017 07:44 AM)panama Wrote:  

(09-06-2017 01:33 AM)_C2_ Wrote:  Obviously they're a big draw. I still don't get it. They pretty much have been irrelevant for a generation, except a few seasons and a lot of unwarranted hype.

Ok ne could say that about a lot of state flagships but Texas is still Texas despite being irrelevant for over a decade.

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A decade is not a generation ago and, oh yeah, wasn't Texas competing for a national title not that long ago? Texas never went as long without competing for a national title as Notre Dame did, not in recent history.

I know that we use hyperbole here and I'm far from a Notre Dame fan, but ND did play in the national championship game in 2012 (and I'd say playing in the championship game would inherently qualify as "competing" for a national title). I'm getting old, but 2012 isn't *that* long ago.

I've said this before about the difference between marquee programs (like ND, Texas, Michigan, Alabama, etc.) and standard programs: a marquee program can be down for many years, but as soon as it has one flicker of competing again, it's as if all of those down years are instantly erased. In contrast, it takes many years for a standard program to build up a reputation... and all it takes is one bad year for it to be totally erased. (See Oregon and Michigan State now.) The marquee programs have lot more margin for error and their history matters a lot more compared to recent performance, whereas standard programs have no margin for error and their history is irrelevant compared to recent performance. That's just the nature of college football (and it has been that way for the last 75 years).

I said, they never went as long as Notre Dame did without competing for a title. When was the last time Notre Dame played for the national title or even close before then?

ND was certainly regularly in contention in the early 1990s in the Lou Holtz years and then even had random flashes in the Bob Davie, Tyrone Willingham and Charlie Weiss years in the 2000s with 3 BCS bowl appearances in 7 years (albeit they were not consistent year-to-year with any of those coaches). If you're arguing that ND wasn't consistent during that time period, then I'd agree... but even the very best programs during that same time period weren't consistent (including but not limited to Texas). ND is the biggest target, so it's understandable that they attract the most scrutiny, but their unique power in college football is unquestioned. There's no one else (not even Alabama or Ohio State) that could get the coast-to-coast national TV coverage that ND receives every week of every year for even the worst games on the schedule.