From Wikipedia: The wolverine, Gulo gulo (gulo is Latin for "glutton") is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae [the weasel family]... Like many other mustelids, it has potent anal scent glands used for marking territory and sexual signaling. The pungent odor has given rise to the nicknames "skunk bear" and "nasty cat”... Wolverines [...]
The ranks of the undefeated shrank once again over the weekend. Wisconsin faltered on the road as major favorites against Illinois, providing a fresh shake up to the Big Ten if not the national picture as a whole. As we wait for a couple titanic matchups (Alabama vs. LSU and Ohio State vs. Penn State) [...]
Notre Dame hung on to a massive first-half advantage to defeat the Trojans in a three-point win in South Bend. Despite controlling the game, SP+ gave Notre Dame a 28% postgame win expectancy looking at the final box score - how did the Irish escape despite allowing a massive success rate on the ground, the [...]
There's an old quote attributed to Lou Holtz that sums up fans insatiable desire for more that goes: "First they told me we didn't win enough, so we won more. Then they said we didn't win them all, so then we went out and won them all. Then they said we weren't winning by enough." [...]
As we round the turn into the second half of the season, it's time to revive the Playoff Big Board. Our board will consist of all ranked undefeated teams and all ranked one-loss Power 5 teams - first from the AP poll, then from the committee rankings when they're available soon. I define "resume wins" for [...]
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 [...]
It finally happened. One of the top teams in the country went down in a major upset this past weekend and shook up the polls at least a little bit. The Georgia Bulldogs inexplicably tripped up against South Carolina and now are forced to run the table and hope a playoff spot still awaits. The [...]
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 [...]
As humans, and as Americans, we are accustomed to believing that bigger is better. Take for example, car manufacturers like General Motors and Ford who are quickly approaching 90% of their sales in either SUV's or trucks. At least in the auto industry bigger can be spun as safer but it's also more about the [...]
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 [...]
A packed Notre Dame Stadium watched the Irish start slowly offensively but take a 17-3 lead into halftime all the same. In the second half, USC awoke on offense and nearly put together one of the better comebacks in series history. However, thanks to a gutsy touchdown drive led by Ian Book and Tony Jones, [...]
For the past few weeks at 18Stripes, we've been chronicling Charlie Weis's fateful last year in South Bend (Click here for the awesome UW game). The next installment will be the 2009 USC-ND game when the Irish tried to knock off the title-contending Trojans in order to help save Weis' job. At the time, USC [...]
Notre Dame played the worst team in FBS per the latest SP+ rankings, and dominated as expected with season-high advantages in explosiveness and efficiency. Where can the Irish continue to improve, what were the most impressive stats from the blowout win, and what challenges USC brings to South Bend next week. Per SP+ garbage time [...]
This past weekend saw the first big ball to drop in the SEC and for the national picture. As per the usual breakdown, a few teams in the back half of the rankings fell as the top half continues to be remarkably consistent. However, we did shuffle a few teams around even with several byes [...]
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 [...]
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