Indiana at Notre Dame Round 1 Playoffs

[satyanash 15550]

1 hour ago, Texzilla58 said:

And based on a great record against weak opponents, with mostly players he brought from James Madison, Indiana gave Cignetti a 10 year extension and huge fat raise. Hasn’t even been thru a couple of recruiting cycles or big ten seasons.  Another stupid BoT and AD jumping into a dumb contract after a few weeks of success and media hyping their coach for 2025 openings.  They’ll regret it.  

[MrX 803]

It’s a 12 team playoff. Of course there are going to be a handful of teams in the field that do not have a realistic shot to win the title.
 

The last few teams on the 12 line cutoff can bitch all they want, but IU’s regular season was better overall than Bama and Ole Miss’s.   Dropping multiple dumb games should definitely be penalized. 

[Pimphand 6358]

They just need to go to an 8 team tournament and let the BCS pick the top 8 and go. If a team like Indiana squeaks in then they are cannon fodder for the #1 team which is fair for them having had the presumed best season.

[satyanash 15550]

 

[Bevo 13870]

[boilerhorn 1621]

With subjectivity involved in the playoff selection process, we will always have complaints and "told you so" from those who were left out, especially when a team gets crushed. 

Darn near every year, a similar thing happens in the NFL.  In 2023, Houston beat Cleveland 45-14.  KC beat Miami 26-7.  Tampa blew out Philly.  With that outcome, Cleveland, Miami, and Philly did not belong in the playoffs.  Who cares - we have football games

As noted, IU likely gets into the top-12 using most other metrics, too.  Simulated BCS had them at 8.  Sagarin had them at 11.  Massey composite has them at 7.

For UND - simulated BCS would have them at 3.  Sagarin has them at 1.  Massey composite has them at #2.

It was not a great draw for IU.

Simulated BCS would have had Boise travel to IU.  That would have been interesting.

[aggie08 21792]

9 minutes ago, satyanash said:

 

Yeah, some serious overreactions going on here. No issue at all with Indiana getting in (though, yes, a conference where you don't play half the teams is too big). Sure, they got beat up on in the Shoe, but Michigan was the only other team all year to stay within 14 of them. Don't really care that they took the spot of some meh 3 loss SEC teams who have also looked like trash at points this season.

[BurntEyes 6290]

1 hour ago, boilerhorn said:

Cignetti said that last December when he was hired.  He was asked how he will be able to sell his vision of the culture to recruits, existing players, and transfers.  He said, "It's pretty simple.  I win. (pause) Google me."  IMO it is a fair response.  His record was 119-35 before getting to IU.  His JMU teams were 52-9 in 5 years.  Yes, he wins.  It is true.

Cignetti turned over the majority of the starting lineup.  He took the top players on his JMU team (OL, WR, RB, TE, DL, LB, CB), added a few players from Ohio (WR, QB), signed a WR from Texas Tech, an RB from Wake, a DB from Old Dominion, etc.

The talent level was clearly below Notre Dame.  That said, the team plays sound football.  They just got out-athlete'd, IMO.  There may be some comments about getting out-schemed, but I saw schemes that tried to mitigate IU's weaknesses.  Notre Dame exploited those mitigations.

I was hopeful for IU.  

It will be interesting to see how IU performs in the coming years. 

Well, in retrospect his first year operational model was essentially the same as Deion at CU. I would say Cignetti did it better faster with lower talent at critical skill positions than Deion, but thats for another thread. The turn around is remarkable, regardless, and in further retrospect a goodly portion of his team, like Deion, moved from JMU to IU (which you noted). That along with a lot of other transfers. ND isn't a great team, but they were definitely bigger stronger faster than IU. Which, given the respective recruiting history definitely tracks. 

I'll say this Cignetti schemes really well. 11-2 out front should have told you, regardless of competition, IU was absolutely dominant outside of 3 games all year. That's impressive given what he was starting with at IU. 

What really surprised me was the number of fans here that heald animosity again IU for their schedule and perceived questionable record. 

It will be a  very interesting story to watch. Can Cignetti use this season to pull in a decent recruiting class and does IU have the NIL money to pull some top not transfers this off season. 

This year ended about like most predicted, and unlike I anticipated. 

I don't think ND is as good as some here like to think. I think they were dramatically more talented than IU, that much is clear. The rest is TBD.

Edited 16 hours ago by BurntEyes

[Hagbard Celine 11215]

55 minutes ago, Hank Kingsley said:

A successful Cignetti is good for CFB. I don't understand the hate. He doesn't spit out boring coach speak and it's fun to have some personality in the game. 

coach cig, with 6 minutes left and 162 yards to your credit down 3 scores, why did you punt?

[Hank Kingsley 21749]

38 minutes ago, Texasrocks said:

I don't know that the playoff committee needs to do anything about IU's inclusion. They need to address seeding and strength of schedule in general, but not because of the result last night. Indiana had an unusual season that isn't likely to be repeated very often. They kicked the crap out of everyone except OSU. Even dominant teams can lose on an off night and most have a few close wins. It's almost shocking how well IU played this season given their talent level. They have a couple of 4 stars and a boat-load of unrated guys. They had less talent than the teams they played and won by an average of 21 points. When TCU made the championship game, they had more talent, were loaded with experience and still had several close wins aided by more than a bit of luck. That's a much more likely path to the playoffs than what Indiana did this year. And I'm sure we'll see more blowouts in the playoffs this year. Basically, don't design a system to guard against highly unlikely events. Focus on discouraging OOC schedules consisting of UMass and Furman.

Totally agree. Cinderella seasons should be rewarded. Isn't that a significant reason for expanding the playoffs? 

 

[boilerhorn 1621]

1 minute ago, Hagbard Celine said:

coach cig, with 6 minutes left and 162 yards to your credit down 3 scores, why did you punt?

I think that was at 10:43 - not 6 mins left... But I agree - however...  It was 4th-11 from the UND 48.  Perhaps they did not think they could get 11+ yards.  

The punt was mediocre and the Irish drove 78 yards in 5:44 to make it 27-3.
 

[BurntEyes 6290]

9 hours ago, Funk Doctor Spock said:

I had to turn it off because it was just becoming boring. I'm not a believer in ND, but I didn't think IU were going to beat them. After what I saw against tOSU, I lost faith in them. Good for them for making the playoffs. Something aggy can't claim. 

IU won 11 games. I can't even remember the last time that happened? Was it when they had Antwaan Randle El?

Never happened.

[usmc0331horn 995]

I'm already sick of the playoffs discourse over who deserves it or not. All playoffs have teams that are pretty mid and get their asses kicked. Why does college football have to seek perfection when it comes to the playoffs?

[boilerhorn 1621]

9 hours ago, Funk Doctor Spock said:

I had to turn it off because it was just becoming boring. I'm not a believer in ND, but I didn't think IU were going to beat them. After what I saw against tOSU, I lost faith in them. Good for them for making the playoffs. Something aggy can't claim. 

IU won 11 games. I can't even remember the last time that happened? Was it when they had Antwaan Randle El?

With Randle El, they were not good.

1998: 5-7
1999: 4-7
2000: 3-8
2001: 5-6

[Thatguy 9351]

1 hour ago, DFW Horn said:

Like many of us, @Thatguy suffers from living around and/or working with too many aggy.

Man tell me about it. 

[BurntEyes 6290]

I think part of the IU hate is based more around the CFP selection process.

If I told you a P4 team went 11-1 with their only loss being a top 5 CFP team, would anyone here say they shouldn't make the CFP. What if I also told you that team's most impressive win was over Michigan. 

Would folks here say they should be excluded from the CFP?

I somehow doubt it.

[mdmost 43946]

9 minutes ago, usmc0331horn said:

I'm already sick of the playoffs discourse over who deserves it or not. All playoffs have teams that are pretty mid and get their asses kicked. Why does college football have to seek perfection when it comes to the playoffs?

The SEC!SEC!SEC! portion of the fandom and their sycophants in the media were always going to whine based on this round or the next. Every SEC team had warts. None of them were a team that you could 100% justify being in. It's going to be subjective unless they say it's at least the 1st through 4th ranked of the Big 10 and SEC and then something more like how the NFL does its Wildcard selections. 

Or you say, all conferences have to play 9 conference games and at least 1 P4 team from the other conference in your OOC scheduling. No more shitty schedules like what Indiana got away with in the OOC. 

Edited 15 hours ago by mdmost

[BurntEyes 6290]

6 minutes ago, usmc0331horn said:

I'm already sick of the playoffs discourse over who deserves it or not. All playoffs have teams that are pretty mid and get their asses kicked. Why does college football have to seek perfection when it comes to the playoffs?

It's 100 years worth of debate over who is or is not the national champion from polls to playoffs. It's a part of the history of P4 college football and it isn't going away. 8, 12 or 16 people are going to bitch about who did and didn't get it. Just like the seeding in the NCAA hoops people love to debate stupid shit on the internet. This board is full of it and not just football shit.

And I'm regarding here with my takes for the stupid shit debates with regards and maybe a sternly worded letter.

[BurntEyes 6290]

2 minutes ago, mdmost said:

The SEC!SEC!SEC! portion of the fandom and their sycophants in the media were always going to whine based on this round or the next. Every SEC team had warts. None of them were a team that you could 100% justify being in. It's going to be subjective unless they say it's at least the 1st through 4th ranked of the Big 10 and SEC and then something more like how the NFL does its Wildcard selections. 

Or you say, all conferences have to play 9 conference games and at least 1 P4 team from the other conference in your OOC scheduling. No more shitty schedules like what Indiana got away with in the OOC. 

Making OOC ranking more important and eliminating non-P4 game results from win/loss records will solve for a portion in addition to required 9 conference games.

It absolutely will kill football at a lot of the smaller schools due to the millions they'll lose but.. 

[BlueGreySky 1081]

I'm awake, alive, and about to start smoking the first of two turkeys today to take back to South Bend to the in-laws for Christmas.

The energy was electric.  The temps weren't as bad once you got in the stadium.  There's a collective solace in everyone in non-student seating being all bundled up, basically leaning against the people behind and next to you (and the people in front of you on your knees) creates some kind of cocoon of warmth.  Until the next big play and everyone is on their feet and yelling.  The national anthem was cool - everyone singing along.  The game was dominant until the end when we went into prevent D and gave up stupid points.  Just stay in base D for fucks sake. 

To haters and doubters on here - Jan 1 is when we fall flat on our face or show whether we can topple one of the best in the nation.  Rylie Milles (99 on D) will be a big factor for that game - whether that knee of his was just hurting last night or it was injured.  Really, really hope he's ok.

I am so glad I could sleep at my in-laws house last night.  We sat and drank in the parking lot for quite a while as traffic dispursed.  That was the best home tailgating/pregame environment I've ever been part of there.  Got dropped off at in-laws in the early hours of the morning.  Slept it off, drove back to Indy, and will head back to SB on Monday. 

IU, as many expected, was a fraud.  But I do hope they get better and stay good/decent.  Cig is a blowhard but he's better for college football than milquetoast coaches.  I cheered for him every game this year except last night.  Then, he just became some obnoxious douche.  Now, he's just harmless little brother again.  

I'm just gonna enjoy the W, the experience, and hope that the W's keep coming and we see y'all on Jan 20.  The older I get and the more friends/family I've said goodbye to the more I realize life is so much bigger than what color or letters you wear on your shirt. 

Go Irish.  Hook Em.

Edited 15 hours ago by BlueGreySky

[Hagbard Celine 11215]

8 minutes ago, mdmost said:

Or you say, all conferences have to play 9 conference games and at least 1 P4 team from the other conference in your OOC scheduling. No more shitty schedules like what Indiana got away with in the OOC. 

fucking this and NO FCS AT ALL

then 3-loss teams get in all over the place

it levels out the SoS metrics

9 conference games

minimum 1 p4 ooc

no fcs

this is the way

[Hagbard Celine 11215]

23 minutes ago, boilerhorn said:

I think that was at 10:43 - not 6 mins left... But I agree - however...  It was 4th-11 from the UND 48.  Perhaps they did not think they could get 11+ yards.  

The punt was mediocre and the Irish drove 78 yards in 5:44 to make it 27-3.
 

okay 11 minutes to go

you've put up 162 yards

you have proven you can not drive the field

it's a playoff game

your only hope is to risk bombing away

AT LEAST MAKE THE EFFORT TO SHOW THE COUNTRY YOU WANT TO WN

instead you go full cosmetic turtle to protect the perception of your program

jimbo was spectacular at this and it should be punished with no lube in future selection discussions

it should be held against cignetti openly and critically

[MrX 803]

Agree on IU’s scheduling, but it’s on par with what Ole Miss rolled out for non con this year (and IU played nine conference games). 
 

At least IU rolled people for three solid months. Bama and Ole Miss couldn’t make it a month without tripping over their own dicks against teams that IU would have probably dispatched without much issue. 

[Hozz 1035]

The 4 team playoff had blowouts annually.  Indiana shouldn't have been there but it's not their fault they were.  I don't see this, picking the 12 teams, as something that is fixable if the goal is eliminating blowouts.  The week to week volatility of the result is part of the sport.

[Hagbard Celine 11215]

14 minutes ago, BurntEyes said:

It absolutely will kill football at a lot of the smaller schools due to the millions they'll lose but.. 

what is more important to lane kiffen?

a playoff bid or a payday for the furman paladins?

[Hagbard Celine 11215]

16 minutes ago, MrX said:

Agree on IU’s scheduling, but it’s on par with what Ole Miss rolled out for non con this year (and IU played nine conference games). 
 

At least IU rolled people for three solid months. Bama and Ole Miss couldn’t make it a month without tripping over their own dicks against teams that IU would have probably dispatched without much issue. 

9 games: check

sacrificial fcs: check

ooc p4: not

Edited 15 hours ago by Hagbard Celine

[BurntEyes 6290]

14 minutes ago, Hagbard Celine said:

what is more important to lane kiffen?

a playoff bid or a payday for the furman paladins?

C: A winning record

Edited 14 hours ago by BurntEyes

[Sgt Hulk 14425]

I figure everyone would be bitching.  We bitched when it was the same fucking teams every year. And now we bitch that the same shit teams aren’t in it this year.  What is it?  Fuck bama. Fuck lsu. Fuck the sec. The best 12 came in period 

[Huckleberry 34578]

6 hours ago, GTJ1982 said:

The SEC is down this year though.  And most pundits talked about how Sark built this team to be SEC ready.  We were number 1 in the country then got smacked on national TV and still worked our way back up to number 3.  
 

If anything I hope this leads to teams being judge by their team and not the conference they play in. 

The SEC isn't down this year. It's actually deeper than usual. There was just more attention on the full depth of leagues and conference schedules because of the stupid huge divisionless conferences. 

[Fudge Nuggets 19453]

7 hours ago, Thatguy said:

What I mean is we weren't supposed to be SEC ready. What happened to OU is what was supposed to happen to us by all he pundits. "Texas will be middle of the pack in the SEC".

I went back and looked it up, Texas was #4 preseason.  That is not "middle of the pack in the SEC".  Your thinking is flawed.

[Scuba Saba 34]

Obviously the former aggy AD consulted with Indiana. 

[Burt Macklin 19230]

Indiana’s performances against tOSU and ND really show how terrible the bottom half of the Big 10 is. Indiana can’t even be competitive with top teams, yet they curb stomped almost their whole conference schedule. 

[tx 3 putt 78668]

conferences need to be capped at 8 teams, this would be a great first step and eliminate conf championship games 

[DFW Horn 6650]

8 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

conferences need to be capped at 8 teams, this would be a great first step and eliminate conf championship games 

A number of us would rather play a 9-game SEC schedule with no conference championship.

Home & homes with errbody every 4 years. 3 protected rivals; 0u, aggy, and Arky.

[BurntEyes 6290]

24 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

conferences need to be capped at 8 teams, this would be a great first step and eliminate conf championship games 

Lol 8 team conferences? 

Okay if you think 16 conferences that all have equal entry into the CFP and the end of mega conferences make sense.

So when Texas loses 1 game in the SEC against a schedule of OU, Bama, Georgia, Florida, aggie, Pig and LSU and misses the play off at 11-1 with OOC wins again Michigan, USC, Texas Tech, and Rice to Oregon State in PacNEW who beat Standford, Cal, Arizona, Washington State, BYU and CU and went 8-4 with OOC losses to Fresno State, Arizona State, Oregon and BYU just don't complain about the auto conference entrance into the CFP.

Edited 13 hours ago by BurntEyes