Most of us expected great things from the Irish this year, and we've gotten pretty good things that feel a little disappointing. In an odd way that's an excellent sign of how well the program has rebounded from the 2016 debacle - if your fan base feels unfulfilled by a 5-1 start that includes a [...]
As we nestle into the halfway point of the season, we notice that it's time to revisit our predictions from our staff and reader polls right before the season started. Later in the week we'll bring you a preview of Notre Dame's second-half opponents and discuss postseason possibilities. Big Picture Questions 2019 Record A whopping [...]
The Irish used a relentless offensive game plan and a calculated defensive game plan to hold off a talented rival in a marquee matchup. SP+ didn't view that performance so kindly, largely because patient offense and bend-but-don't-break defense tend to work counter to the metrics that SP+ considers important. Could the Notre Dame offense have [...]
Strike up the band! Blue-chip wide receiver Lorenzo Styles jumped into Notre Dame's 2021 class, roughly 24 hours after top 60 wide receiver Deion Colzie did the same. Like Colzie, Styles lives in the home city of another college football blue-blood; Colzie in Athens, Styles in Columbus. Getting these guys is remarkable anyway, but even [...]
Another odd-numbered year, another huge USC recruiting weekend. Unlike past years, though, every current-cycle visitor is already committed and any movement will happen with next-cycle visitors. Accordingly, the list of 2021 visitors is sizable and packed with elite prospects. The wonders of the early signing period... Among the ranks of the uncommitted visitors for the [...]
Did we play this weekend? Was I sleeping? Have I slept? The Irish went on the Patented Wolverine SP+ Plan this week and boosted their rating substantially by pounding a hapless foe. If you read last week's post you know I lobbed a few shots at SP+ for the rather strange evaluation of the Virginia [...]
All is not wine and roses, as Irish natives are restless despite a 15-point win over a top-20 opponent. And SP+ has downgraded its opinion of Notre Dame as well. From an SP+ perspective the defense was just OK, with the dominant second half balancing out a flaccid first half; similarly, the offense was just [...]
Sad trombone edition... This regular feature was inspired the Reddit dude last year who created a Python script to do these charts for every FBS team. Recapping the methodology again: These aren't actual SP+ win probabilities, as SP+ creator Bill Connelly doesn't publish those regularly after his preseason previews. We used a slightly tweaked version [...]
Welcome to the Georgia Gameday Chat! We’re not going to post one of these reminders every week, but since this is a big game and we might have some new visitors... In 2017 we switched to Slack, a very popular chat and collaboration tool, for our gameday chat. Slack boasts much better functionality and ease [...]
Big ups to 18S regular Scarponi for helping us out with the arduous task of working the chart into a much more user-friendly format that shows win probability rather than loss probability. His 18S Award-Winner Free Subscription For Life is now secure! As we noted last week, we're filling in for the Reddit dude last [...]
New Mexico hired current Maryland coach Mike Locksley in 2009. He, uh, "led" the Lobos to a 2-26 record before being canned part way through the 2011 season; his tenure there made the writers of Days of Our Lives seem unimaginative. He was sued for sexual harassment before he even coached a game (a suit [...]
You've heard us talk about SP+ many times here - in our advanced stats discussions, in our game previews, in our playoff projections, etc. Last year, an enterprising Reddit user who should be nominated for sainthood created a win probability matrix for every team in FBS and updated it every week. The same user did [...]
Welcome to the Louisville Gameday Chat! In 2017 we switched to Slack, a very popular chat and collaboration tool, for our gameday chat. Slack boasts much better functionality and ease of use, and it also works waaaay better on mobile devices. Win-win! Reminder (or intro, if you’re new to it) on the ground rules: Real [...]
Aaaaaand... We're back, folks! It's been a loooong [checks calendar] eight months without college football. We're maybe not better than ever after the schlock-fest that opened the season this past weekend. (Can we really consider what Florida and Miami did "football"? And how on earth did Hawaii go -4 on turnover margin and still beat Arizona?) [...]
Eleven measly little days until the Irish take the field for the first time since... uh... well, we won't talk about that. We're once again asking you, our beloved readers, for your opinions, projections, joy, saltiness, etc. for the upcoming season. We'll have this up for about a week and then write a summary of [...]
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