Notre Dame
plays Alabama for the college football title Monday evening. The game has been
well-hyped and should receive a ton of attention and a high television rating (8
p.m. EST, ESPN). It’s a
marquee matchup of two storied programs, yet I am somewhat amazed at how easily
everyone seems to accept that this is the matchup.
Alabama,
at 12-1, is a no-brainer, for sure. The defending national champions’ record
suffered one blemish, at the
hands of Johnny Football, but achieved sufficient redemption with a solid win
over Georgia in the SEC title game. The Crimson Tide look big, strong and
well-fed as ever—the classic amply funded, state-run football behemoth with the
lordly head coach (Nick Saban) on his way to becoming a god.
Yet the
Fightin' Irish, their 12-0 record notwithstanding, seem suspect. In fact, oddsmakers have installed 'Bama
as a 9- or 10-point favorite (depending on your bookie).
Why would
the #2 team be so solidly favored over the #1 team, you ask? Maybe it’s because ND’s
perfect record might not withstand careful analysis. Their competition compiled an 86-68
record in 2012, including bowl games (55.8%). Not bad. But some of the team’s home victories make you
wonder: Purdue, 20-17; Michigan, 13-6; Stanford, 20-13, in overtime; BYU,
17-14. You’d think the scores wouldn’t be that close under the Golden Dome on a
clear Saturday afternoon in South Bend. For a #1 team, I mean—and contender for
the national title.
The Nov. 3
game, versus Pitt, won by the Irish 29-26 in triple overtime, was a real puzzler, especially—given that the
Panthers were 4-4, an obvious mediocrity who finished their regular season 6-6
and then got pounded by Ole Miss in the BBVA Compass Bowl.
The Irish
don’t dominate, then. But they’re a good story, and many college football fans are
hoping they’ll show up Monday. That includes myself, of course, though I’ve
wondered if maybe Oregon wouldn’t make a better opponent for ‘Bama. The formulas and numbers say otherwise, but one wonders if Notre Dame would've passed the simple eyeball test that basically used to determine these things.
Curiously,
I’ve run into a few people locally who have expressed a kind of automatic
animosity toward Notre Dame. But if the Irish were once upon a time a
monolithic power that struck fear into heathens with their superstition-rich
Catholic heritage and "win one for the Gipper" legendry—"Ru-dy, Ru-dy, Ru-dy, Ru-dy"—they’ve certainly been humbled in the past two decades,
compiling comparatively modest records while valiantly striving to maintain
their football independence in the face of the super-conference mindset. (And God bless
‘em for that. All the conference folderol of recent years drives me nuts.)
Notre Dame
last won a national championship in 1988, and they haven’t otherwise realistically
contended for a title since 1993. Now’s their time, and head coach Brian Kelly
is the right guy (with the right name) to lead them on to the national stage.
I don’t see a miracle in the offing, but
neither did the folks at Cana.
Go Irish!
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