For all the ND haters out there - ther is absolutely no upside in holding Irish expectations to anything less than 9 wins. Look at the schedule.
Ahem…
GO GREEN!
Tigers? LSU, Auburn, Missouri, Clemson, or Grambling…or something else?
UT? Texas or Tennessee
OSU? Ohio St, Oklahoma St, or Oregon St?
Not being a smartass, but I don’t remember the names well enough to associate players with teams.
Well, at least Notre Dame did take Syracuse off the schedule. 
USC is a loaded landmine even at South Bend, (At) Michigan has to got to be better (they can’t be much worse), and Michigan State will be tough. Boston College seems to have Notre Dame’s number lately. (At) Pitt is ranked in the top 25 in at least one preseason poll
I think Charlie Weis will be run out of town and onto the next season of “The Biggest Loser” on NBC.
3 Big XII south teams in top 11.
Virginia Tech will be the first to fall as they’re ranked way too high. Alabama will embarrass them. I think Ole Miss should be ranked ahead of both Alabama and LSU, but there’s plenty of time in the season to let the SEC West sort itself out. Oklahoma State seems right at #11. Could be a very interesting year in the Big 12. I’m not buying Georgia Tech ahead of Florida State at all. GA Tech was a fluke last year.
Go cougs!
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As a GT alumnus, that is hitting way below the belt. Go Jackets!
Caution, don’t underestimate the ACC.
I think LSU has a real chance to get embarrassed in week 1, on the road at Washington.
Ole Miss may have a shot at the BCS title. They’ve got a great schedule, with all their toughest games at home. Toughest road games look to be SC and Vanderbilt.
The SEC is looking to produce its fourth consecutive BCS champion. I’ll cop to being a diehard SEC fan, and I expect the SEC champ to be in the BCS game. Wonder if a non-BCS conference team might get in the game this year. After Utah destroyed Bama in the Sugar Bowl last year, it’s hard to just write those teams off anymore.
Do you mean the same Washington team that was 0-12 last year?
Feh. Barring a shock loss by Florida, everyone is playing for next year.
I used to be a huge PSU fan, but as I’ve gotten older I’ve drifted more towards the NFL. I’ll still root for them when I think to, but I don’t watch so much any more. As much as I’ve loved Old Joe over the years, I do think it may be time for him to step down.
Wait…WHAT??? :eek:
It was distinctly possible that Division II Eastern Washington was the best college football team in the state of Washington last year. Unless by “embarrassed” you mean, “winning by less than 4 TDs by halftime.”
I just have a hunch…first game of the season, on the road, against a team they may not take seriously…could be an upset in the making.
Jonesing Trojon here! (Hey, that would be a good Username!)
Looking forward to hitting TWO home games this year (Hey, I only live 500 miles away!) at seasons end. Hope they will count for something by then. I figure they will…
Can’t wait to watch Boise State. BCS Buster! Can’t wait to watch Notre Dame disgrace themselves. They have an entire network devoted to self-abasement. Maybe they should just schedual High-schools next season? Can’t wait to WHIP the Buckeyes at home. Can’t wait to cook horrid chicken wings and drink too much beer before Noon Pacific.
But moreover, can’t wait for cool late-summer Thursday evenings, a huge slab of dead cow (or pig) on the BBQ, cold homebrew on the armrest of the Adorandak chair watching 2 teams I’ve barely even heard of vie for national attention as I sit on the deck. Oh, wait! Boise and Oregon? Hell, I’ve heard of them! 
Hey, how many teams play a really tough schedule? Look at Florida: Charleston Southern, Troy, and Florida International? Plus they skip Alabama? If MSU gets a couple of Buckeye-free years, great. Personally, I’d like to see the Big 10 do what the Pac 10 does- every team plays every other, every year. But think of how these three teams have done over the past 20 years: Michigan, Penn State, and Notre Dame. How many schools could go 3-0 against them? Except for a 2 year hiatus coming up with ND, Michigan State plays all three every single year.
And Florida plays UGA, UTenn, and FSU every year. And then throw in LSU most years, and/or Bama in the other years, and/or Auburn.
Nearly every team has cupcakes in their schedule. And all top notch teams play at least 2 big games against conference teams every year. There are 12 games on the schedule, I think there should be a legitimate chance at 4 losses in those games.
Michigan’s program has been down for a couple years now. I thought staying down for a major university was not a fear until Noter Dame proved it can happen. ND and Michigan have had recruiting advantages for decades. ND has not recovered. I hope U of M is just an aberration.
You should probably spell it Trojan when you apply for that username change.
Alabama is in the SEC West. Florida plays Alabama next year (plus USF and FSU). Last year they played Hawaii and Miami (FL)- and that game was scheduled 5 years ago when Miami was still a top-3 program. In 2005 they played Iowa on a neutral site.
Florida doesn’t go out of state/conference much because it doesn’t have to. The SEC is unquestionably the best conference, and Florida is, if not the best football state, certainly among the top three.