MARGINS, SCHMARGINS: THE CASE FOR BOSTON COLLEGE

12-1 (loss at VT), ACC champs. Mark it down.

PPS.—First year coach argument prebuttal: Bret Bielema.

And at least Jags wants to be there, unlike grumbly prior coach.

You won the national championship, must you rub the blocked kicks in our face again? I literally threw up after the final one.

Why not Colorado? Only won 2 games last year, but had a new coach, no QB or RB and almost beat Georgia in Georgia. Hawkins straightedn stuff out, his son should be a threat at QB and we didn’t lose any major skill players other than at kicker.

O’Brien overachieved at BC. Why exactly should we expect them to be better with a new coach from the NFL with no head coaching experience?

Herb: How did O’Brien overachieve at BC? Awful record against ranked teams and name programs, .500ish record in conference, plenty of bowl wins against nonBCS conference teams. Is that some sort of tall order?

Orson, good point with Biemela – also, Peterson at Boise State last year and Les Miles at LSU in ’05.

Well, for the skeptics, let’s sell it from a skeptic’s point of view. Jags is all bluster and playcalling, and no managerial chops. If so, then he’s got an existing superstructure inherited from a very, very structured coach, good talent, and a good defensive staff.

From that perspective, if you’re going to take BC at value in the next five years, then this is the time to do it.

Why not Rutgers? I think we’ll improve enough on the margins to not lose those two games this year…

I’m expecting WVU and Louisville to be more improved than Rutgers will be. Also, don’t think you’ll be able to just roll over what I expect to be a surprising Maryland team next year.

Any Big 12 North team except Nebraska, it just seems fairly easy to rebound in that division.

I don’t trust margins. I grew up in Indianapolis and one time in junior high, my classmate Zack took over our class project and he put all our funds on potatoes and he did on margin. Anyways, we all got screwed, Miss Bliss was livid and Zack was so disgraced he and a couple of his friends moved out of town, to Pacific Palisades I think. Anyways, margins can hurt alot of people.

BC will be one of the 4 best teams in the ACC, but had positive variance in close games last season, thus, if they retract to the mean, they’ll be “good” but not “great”

#6, compare TOB’s winning %‘s to BC’s all-time. After rebuilding the program from the gambling scandal, TOB’s winning % was always above BC’s historical average. The only time BC was more successful was when Flutie was there.

Orson, I think you right. I don’t have much faith in Jags as a coach or BC as a program, but he has inherited an excellent team with an excellent QB.

Oh, and #11, Maryland will have a very very average 2007. They were +5 in the close game department and performed terribly on the field. They were lucky to achieve 9 wins.

didn’t the weed increase Jarvis Moss’ vertical leap on that play by 18 inches?

Big 12 North is becoming so obscure, I think they seriously need to redraw the conference.

UNC needs to be considered in the calculus, given their new coach.

JE—we so want a video clip of that looped over and over to the song “Stay High” by 8 Ball and MJG.

No confidence in Harbaugh and the Cardinal? That move alone should yield a winning record!

Herb:

I’ve spent a fair bit of time breaking down every part of the O’Brien era. He won, but not much more than BC has ever one and his schedules were very light compared to Coughlin, Bicknell and Henning. http://atleagle.blogspot.com/2006/12/debunking-it-is-hard-to-win-at-bc-myth.html

Orson #19 – Or Cypress Hill’s “Want to Get High.” Glad to see him playing on Sundays this coming season and not making the trip as a player to Columbia.

Herb—are you a Notre Dame, Rutgers, West Virginia, or UConn fan?? I haven’t noticed any misspelled words, grammatical errors, or references to bestiality; and your attitude towards BC seems to be one of hubristic arrogance rather than an emotionally devastating inferiority complex; so I’m going to guess you’re a Domer.

Alex, I doubt a Notre Dame fan would play the NFL coordinator with no head coaching experience card

Domers aren’t exactly known for their ability to use reason and logic in an unbiased manner, so it’s hardly out of the realm of possibility.

Here comes the “Fredo” comment from a Domer in 5.. 4… 3…

Clempson has an inexperienced QB (again) & has to deal with Bowden’s screwups. As Mark Packer sez, “When will my alma mater show up in ANY sport when its crunch time?”

Don’t look for Willy Korn to be this year’s Tebow. Clemmons will wind up 8-4, 7-5. Then get whupped in the bowl game.

Bring back Danny Ford NOW.

“Herb–are you a Notre Dame, Rutgers, West Virginia, or UConn fan?? I haven’t noticed any misspelled words, grammatical errors, or references to bestiality; and your attitude towards BC seems to be one of hubristic arrogance rather than an emotionally devastating inferiority complex; so I’m going to guess you’re a Domer.”

Ha! State fan. So the hubristic arrogance is due to beating you on a last second pass, then stealing your coach. We’ll see how things work out. We’re not asking for much from a coaching standpoint, I mean, this is a program that sent basically its entire defense to the NFL and still made it to only one bowl in a three year period.

My girlfriend is a Domer. So now in addition to heckling her about State beating ND in the Gator bowl a few years back, I can point out TOB’s record against ND. Plus, girls don’t wear sun dresses to ND games. That’s just un-American, or at least un-Southern.

Herb, you have your priorities straight when you say -

“Plus, girls don’t wear sun dresses to ND games. That’s just un-American, or at least un-Southern.”

I’m not willing to give them a pass either but I guess its because its a lot colder up there for most of the season, which is tragic as well.

NC State actually crossed my mind too but you can’t go back and edit these posts. Yes, your last-second victory was impressive, particularly after the 30-10 whomping we laid on you the year before. BTW, you didn’t “steal” our coach. When I walk out of the bank after depositing a paycheck and give 75 cents to the bum sitting on the corner, he did not steal my 75 cents.

My girlfriend actually didn’t believe me about the sun dresses. I’m slowly introducing her to the world of Southern college football. First I took her to a Western Carolina game, then a NC State game, and I’ll take her to an SEC game next.

Most State fans felt the same way about Arizona St. “stealing” our b-ball coach as BC fans do about us “stealing” their football coach (good riddance). Time will tell. He’d better not suck though, cause we already had that, along with general hilarity, with Chuck the Chest.

I’m not playing dumb here (not playing), but is Steele saying BC should be improved, or is that just the opinion of the EDSBS editorial staff?

If it’s the latter, one of the four questions for tonight should be to have people try to guess who Steele will predict as most improved for 2007.

Re: #26

I think pulling out the Fredo comment would only confuse the general populace of this site.

Besides, you’ve already given us so much to mock (gambling scandal, failure to ever make a BCS game even when Miami and VT left before you, accepting ND rejects with open arms), we really don’t need to keep going back to that well.

It’s too bad your football tradition consists of exactly 2 plays. Your idea of touching greatness is being a stumbling block along the way for the real powers. You’ll never be on the level of ND or USC, and it’s funny that you folks can’t get your heads around that. I think the even funnier part is that a shocking majority of your fans have not a clue that you actually won a national title. Of course, it was WWII, so I guess it’d be easy to overlook.

Accept ND rejects with open arms and then beating ND 4 straight years and 5 out of 6.

Not saying BC and ND are on the same level, but maybe ND isn’t on the level they think they are either.

Yeah, when Syracuse is beating Ty Willingham by 20, your wins lose a bit of luster. We’’ll see how you guys do against weis.

beating a Ty willingham team 3 years in a row and one boob davie team is a big accomplishment… i think USC did it with more grandeur though…

Indeed, if it weren’t for USC we’d be mired in the thick of a really bad coaching search right now, and brady quinn would be tryign to walk on to an arena league team. fate certainly works in myterious ways.

Wasn’t ND undefeated in 2002 when BC won?

All that, and you guys still can’t figure out how to beat us. Must suck to be a ND fan.

Notre Dame, returning to glory since 1992

Re post # 34:

I really don’t care what ND’s tradition is (or isn’t). I just love baiting domers, it’s like taking candy from a baby.

Alex F-
What the hell is “hubristic arrogance”? Can you possibly get more redundant? That’s like saying “inadequate BC student”.

Actually, “hubristic” is more extreme than “arrogant”. So it’s like saying someone is “insanely troubled”, rather than saying someone is a “delusional Domer” (which would be redundant).

Alex F.,

Did you frame your ND rejection letter to give you extra motivation to go to BC? Just curious.

Well I tossed my half-filled-out application to ND when I got into BC early, so it’s probably in a landfill somewhere in Jersey right now.

BTW, “landfill in Jersey” – another example of redundancy.

This notion that BC is full of ND rejects is just another example of how domers are doomed to live in the past. So, yes, while ND was a on a tier above BC academically 20-30 years ago, that difference has utterly vanished by now.

So we have debunked the ND will forever be the better football team and better school theories. Is there anything left you want to debate about? I predict: “ND is still better for the Catholic Church than BC” in 5… 4… 3…

Alex L or F or any other flaming Alex out there for that matter-

If by “debunked” you mean, “an ND reject stated it, therefore it must be true”, then you have done a fine job of debunking.

Check the academic rankings of BC. Then ND. I dare ya.
Check the number of national titles BC has won. Then check the number ND has won. I dare ya.

Douchebag.

Apparently BC does do a better job of teaching reading comprehension. He said that the idea that ND will “FOREVER” be the better academic school/football program has been debunked (FWIW, the two schools are about equal on both counts right now).

I can count on one hand the number of BC students I’ve known who got rejected from ND. Most either got into both and chose BC, or didn’t even apply to ND, because no-one wants to go to school in a cornfield in the middle of nowhere where you can’t have girls in your room after 9 pm.

Notre Dame is the greatest institution of higher education on the planet. People only attend other schools because they can’t get into ND. That is why Notre Dame’s US News ranking goes up every year. Likewise, Notre Dame’s football team is college football. A quick glance at their post-season dominance of the past decade proves that it is the elite program. Pesky things like won-loss and bowl records will not prevent Domers from lumping themselves in with USC as the elite college football programs of the era. Apparently getting beat around on a yearly basis by USC is a sign of peerage. I forgot…the Davie and Willingham years don’t count. I guess you guys will just have to sit back and enjoy the victories over USC under Weis and his impressive bowl record.

BC Chicago-
Finally, a BC fan with a little sense.

Alex F-
Apparently they don’t teach math at BC. Last time I checked, 20 was a higher ranking than 34. It must blow being the third best college in town. And being ranked at the same level as noted academic power….Wisconsin.

Kevin, you are an embarrassment to all other ND grads. You act like a 3-year-old and throw a tamtrum as soon as things don’t go your way. And you resort to name-calling. Did you pick that up from the 20th best education in the land? Or is it hardwired into you as part of being a domer?

By “the third best college in town” I assume you mean Harvard and MIT are higher than BC in the rankings. Well in that case, whoopty-friggin-doo. Your skills at observation just blow me the hell away. What you haven’t noticed is, by your logic, that would ALSO put ND as the the third best college (when compared to those same two schools).

Since you need your hand held when reading opposing viewpoints, let me put it into words that a 3-year-old like you can understand: OF COURSE I know full well that BC is 34 and ND is 20. My point was that, at present and INTO THE FUTURE, those rankings are virtually a tie, since applications to BC are skyrocketing while acceptance rates are unchanged or heading lower.

Let the adults worry about the other schools in Boston (if there even is such a need). You little kids in South Bend can sit at the kids table.

Alex L-

Do the authorities know about the fetish you have with little kids?

BCU is where you go when you can’t get into ND or Georgetown but you still want to spend too much on tuition.

Jugs was a real interesting hire. When Skinner leaves the BCU hoops program I expect Flipper to hire some nobody from Milwaukee Bucks staff. Nice work Fredo.

Inreagrs to # 55

1. - BCU – what school is that idiot? – Boston College University ?

1. Win a bowl game – any bowl game or at least try not to get your ass kicked -

1. Four in a row and five out of six – our players don’t feel entitled to win – they just do their best -and their best is consistently enough to beat an over rated ND

ND might be ranked higher, but BC is harder to get into, so I guess ND is chock full of BC rejects?
Or we could all just be realistic and realize they are very comparable academically and athletically. But BC certainly has the advantage on location