Eagles To Face Three Top Ten Programs In 2011 ... According To Athlon
by Brian Favat on Jun 3, 2011 10:00 AM EDT
in Boston College Football
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Athlon Sports is counting down their preseason college football Top 25, and the magazine is awfully high on three of Boston College's 2011 opponents. Virginia Tech, Notre Dame and Florida State all cracked Athlon's top 10, with the 'Noles ranked the highest at number 4.
"Florida State's players, coaches and fans are confident this program is on the cusp of a return to national prominence, but those dreams will be tested during a crucial two-game stretch in late September. First, the Seminoles will play host to an Oklahoma team that simply dismantled them last year in Norman, Okla. Then, they will go on the road one week later to face Clemson, which always seems to give them fits; FSU hasn't won at Death Valley since 2001."
It's easy to see why pundits and prognosticators are high on the Noles this year, especially for a team that returns 16 starters from last season 10-win team. But like I said when Andy Staples unveiled his Post-Spring Top 25, I'm not about to put the Seminoles in the National Championship Game discussion quite yet. They have to earn this back. Ranking FSU as high as four seems like a bit of a stretch.
Speaking of stretches ... Notre Dame checks in at number 6 in Athlon's 2011 rankings. Are you serious?
"Sprinkle [Michael] Floyd back into the mix, maximize [Cierre] Wood's abilities, and find a quarterback who can avoid the crucial mistake, and it looks like the Irish should be able to generate enough offense to accommodate an improving and suddenly depth-laden defense. The combination of [Brian] Kelly's offensive track record and the improving defense could send the Irish in pursuit of a BCS bid in 2011."
As ESPN blogger Brian Bennett points out, this preseason ranking for the Irish is way too high. Top 25? Sure. But ranking the Irish in the Top 10 just gives Notre Dame haters more fodder for when this year's team finishes with 7 or 8 wins. How quickly we forget that this was an Irish team that started last season going 1-3 and stood at 4-5 at the end of October, including blowout losses to Stanford and a Navy program that wound up losing to Duke. Via the transitive property, Duke > Notre Dame.
The Hokies are the third BC opponent ranked in Athlon's preseason top 10, garnering a preseason ranking of 7:
"Even with a new quarterback, Virginia Tech should be the class of the Coastal Division. The schedule sets up favorably, with four winnable non-conference games to open the season. The Hokies also host Miami and won't play Florida State or NC State during the regular season. They're a dark horse national title contender."
Dark horse national title contender? Perhaps, but my guess is the Hokies will have a hard time reaching the BCS National Championship Game this season. Even if the Hokies go undefeated in the regular season, a non-conference schedule that includes Appalachian State, East Carolina, Arkansas State and Marshall isn't going to impress many voters. If there are two other undefeateds from BCS conferences left standings, VT will probably be left at the altar a la Cincinnati in 2009.
Finally, the U is ranked 18th in Athlon's Preseason Top 25, but they still have Jacory Harris playing at QB, so we good ... we good.
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Coulda Woulda Shoulda
The Athlon guy talking about Notre Dame sounds like my high school football team when we went 0-8. If the ref just didn’t make that call, if we had just made that catch, if we had just call that play—we didn’t And neither has Notre Dame. IF they have a QB who can avoid the crucial mistake, IF the offense can produce, IF the defense improves. It’s all garbage. I would like to say “IF Michael Floyd comes back” but unfortunately, as long as he can “change his lifestyle” then he will play in every single game. Even though he already had two previous DUIs to prove that he CAN’T change his ways. I can’t wait until Notre dame has 8 wins and then goes off about how they almost beat USC, Michigan, Stanford, should have closed out BC in the 4th quarter, because the answer will always be: But, you didn’t.
by Andrew G. Jones on Jun 3, 2011 10:37 AM EDT reply actions
The difference
“IF [Program X can] find a quarterback who can avoid the crucial mistake …”
For a majority of Division I-A programs, not having a starting QB going into the summer is usually the difference between getting just a tad bit of Top 25 love and playing the entire season in relative obscurity.
For Notre Dame, not having named a starting QB is the difference between being ranked 6th in Athlon’s preseason rankings and what? Being ranked 2nd? 1st?
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
The Irish are rated year in and year out on their potential. Each year they come in with a highly rated recruiting class, and a high profile head coach, so the media of course falls in love with them. Plus they have a rich tradition, well not recently, but back to the 80’s. I’m just surprised after years of 8-4 and 7-5 records that this expectation hasn’t cooled off until they actually prove they are top 10 school again. (commence teeth gnashing on ND messageboards)
Contributor at BC Interruption
Founder of Mass Hysteria Sports
Guys
It’s all about magazine sales. Put the Irish in the Top 10, show that on the cover, and all the Domers purchase the magazine. I bet if you ask the Athlon analysts themselves, they rank ND in the 30s.
Bingo!
It’s all about magazine sales
So true. it is funny how we all fall for the ND stuff and get iritated, when IN TRUTH all these ranking are published just to increase circulation/viewers/readers. Ha!
But it is more than Domers buying mags, the whole college football world finds ND interesting (either to luv or, like us, to hate)
Still, let’s not kid ourselves: ND will pose a tough challenge this year for our young squad.
The problem
Even if ranking the Irish this high is only done for magazine sales, it still has an overall impact on the sport. Publications like Athlon and Phil Steele’s preseason top 25 rankings help shape public perception in a sport that relies heavily on those perceptions. After all, college football is one of the few (only?) sports that lets human voters pick who gets to play for a National Championship.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
Forget having ND ranked too high, Virginia Tech at 7? Good grief. I’m pretty sure they lost every single offensive weapon of any consequence and a good chunk of their front 7 on defense. They’ve certainly earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to being ranked on potential, but if ever there was a team with the “prove it first” label, it would be them.
I about fell out of my chair when I saw this..
The Irish are likely a true top 20 team this year 18th or 19th seems about right. I am thinking that they may have earned a ranking in the high teens with wins over Utah, USC, and Miami last season. They were all solid wins. But a ranking in the top 10!! No way.
All about magazines
ND is definitely not a top 10 team, 20-25 is reasonable based on the momentum from last season. Stanford handled us in every facet of the game, Navy completely out coached us, and Tulsa was a fluke. The Stanford game was the only forgivable loss. We exposed an average Utah team, worked Miami, beat BC, beat Purdue, beat Pitt, and beat Army. None of these wins were very impressive looking back at the end of the season. MSU, USC, and Michigan, could have gone either way. The most important factor is that ND’s defense improved as the season progressed; something that has not happened in years. If we can have something resembling consistency on offense, the defense should keep us in every game.
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