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Notre Dame vs. USC Series "Paused"

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isucy86

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Apr 13, 2006
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Saw in the ESPN crawl an announcement that BYU was going to play the Irish in 2026 & 2027. Should be a good game for Big12. On field games influencing Committee.

I believe reasoning for pausing ND/USC series goes back to USC not wanting to play non-con games after Sept.

But who knows, could be move by Big10 to ding ND's SOS. Encouraging ND to join Big 10.
 
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isucy86 said:
Saw in the ESPN crawl an announcement that BYU was going to play the Irish in 2026 & 2027. Should be a good game for Big12. On field games influencing Committee.

I believe reasoning for pausing ND/USC series goes back to USC not wanting to play non-con games after Sept.

But who knows, could be move by Big10 to ding ND's SOS. Encouraging ND to join Big 10.
Click to expand...

It's USC trying to make their schedule easier. Plain and simple.
 
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isucy86 said:
Saw in the ESPN crawl an announcement that BYU was going to play the Irish in 2026 & 2027. Should be a good game for Big12. On field games influencing Committee.

I believe reasoning for pausing ND/USC series goes back to USC not wanting to play non-con games after Sept.

But who knows, could be move by Big10 to ding ND's SOS. Encouraging ND to join Big 10.
Click to expand...

ND has to be getting worried about their future schedule. With the SEC moving to 9 games and the conferences holding more power over schedules, there won’t be many opportunities after September. To “pause” the USC series sounds more like it’s done from a USC side. ND trying to save face or just won’t acknowledge what the future holds for their independent status.
 
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Or this is the first shoe to drop in major conference teams saying F-you to Notre Dame because they're getting special treatment from the CFP committee. It's not as though USC couldn't find good home-and-home games with an SEC or Big 12 school.
 
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twincyties said:
Or this is the first shoe to drop in major conference teams saying F-you to Notre Dame because they're getting special treatment from the CFP committee. It's not as though USC couldn't find good home-and-home games with an SEC or Big 12 school.
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I'd be good with that as well.

Or even seeing the playoff committee say you need to finish 1st or 2nd in your conference to be eligible for a spot. Even the at large bids. Just to stick it to them.
 
The series started when Yost at Michigan was trying to get other conference teams to refuse to play Notre Dame. Ohio State was all in on that. ND started playing USC to get games and Rockne’s wife enjoyed Southern California. I am guessing it just doesn’t work schedule wise. But a holy war game might be fun.
 
twincyties said:
Or this is the first shoe to drop in major conference teams saying F-you to Notre Dame because they're getting special treatment from the CFP committee. It's not as though USC couldn't find good home-and-home games with an SEC or Big 12 school.
Click to expand...

USC has been planning this for a while. They will schedule Fresno State or Cal Poly instead. Lincoln Riley has been complaining about playing Notre Dame since he got to USC. Why do people think he left OU for a Pac 12 school when they announced they were going to the SEC?
 
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Clonehomer said:
ND has to be getting worried about their future schedule. With the SEC moving to 9 games and the conferences holding more power over schedules, there won’t be many opportunities after September. To “pause” the USC series sounds more like it’s done from a USC side. ND trying to save face or just won’t acknowledge what the future holds for their independent status.
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Would be interesting if Yormark steps in and provides a similar scheduling arrangement as ACC. Have Big12 schedule 4 non-con games annually against the Irish. That would give ND 9 games against ACC/Big12 teams and they could then schedule: Stanford, Navy and another school.

IMO the more non-con games the Big12 can play against elite competition the better. Besides CFP wins, the Big12 also needs non-con wins over SEC & Big10 teams (or ND) to keep the Big12 relevant in multi playoff team discussion. And if CFP expands to 16, I'm talking 3-4 teams annually.
 
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isucy86 said:
Would be interesting if Yormark steps in and provides a similar scheduling arrangement as ACC. Have Big12 schedule 4 non-con games annually against the Irish. That would give ND 9 games against ACC/Big12 teams and they could then schedule: Stanford, Navy and another school.

IMO the more non-con games the Big12 can play against elite competition the better. Besides CFP wins, the Big12 also needs non-con wins over SEC & Big10 teams (or ND) to keep the Big12 relevant in multi playoff team discussion. And if CFP expands to 16, I'm talking 3-4 teams annually.
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Unless this plan allows ND to steal CFP spots from. Ig12 teams? I also don’t like the idea of Big12 teams playing ND in the middle of conference season. That’s an unfair disadvantage to those schools. And ND will not want to play these games early.
 
Clonehomer said:
Unless this plan allows ND to steal CFP spots from. Ig12 teams? I also don’t like the idea of Big12 teams playing ND in the middle of conference season. That’s an unfair disadvantage to those schools. And ND will not want to play these games early.
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Agree, there would likely be games later in the season. It's a huge disadvantage to those schools if they lose to the Irish. But what if they win? Or even play a top 4-5 ranked Irish team close and lose.

The Big12 might have to take some risks to ensure it can consistently get 2/3 teams in a 12 team playoff or 3/4 teams in a 16 team playoff. Obviously the status quo isn't working as the Big12 only got 1 team in the first two years of the 12 team CFP.
 
isucy86 said:
Saw in the ESPN crawl an announcement that BYU was going to play the Irish in 2026 & 2027. Should be a good game for Big12. On field games influencing Committee.

I believe reasoning for pausing ND/USC series goes back to USC not wanting to play non-con games after Sept.

But who knows, could be move by Big10 to ding ND's SOS. Encouraging ND to join Big 10.
Click to expand...

ACC championship kind of proved it is hard to put a playoff caliber SOS together playing ACC football.
 
isucy86 said:
Agree, there would likely be games later in the season. It's a huge disadvantage to those schools if they lose to the Irish. But what if they win? Or even play a top 4-5 ranked Irish team close and lose.

The Big12 might have to take some risks to ensure it can consistently get 2/3 teams in a 12 team playoff or 3/4 teams in a 16 team playoff. Obviously the status quo isn't working as the Big12 only got 1 team in the first two years of the 12 team CFP.
Click to expand...

It do you count that ND game as a conference game? Cause if you’re playing 9 conference games plus ND, you’re going to have to move some of those early to allow for more rest weeks.
 
IDK …. BYU likely better than ‘SC…
Will root for the Mormons in this one… even though I was raised catholic !
 
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xr4ticlone said:
Honestly no one should play ND until they fully join a conference.

It’s sickening to watch them be top 12 rated every year and then play 9-10 cupcakes.

A&M’s only top ranked win was…early ND.

And we see what that ment.
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Notre Dame strength of schedule was similar to Iowa's and a lot tougher than Iowa State's. 9-10 cupcakes? Seriously?
 
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