Comments about ‘Brad Rock: Cougars can't expect Fighting Irish to back them’

I'm so tired of sorts writers saying the the SEC is a lock for two teams in the playoffs. Yes they have been good the past few years. They have not been great forever. And there is no guarantee they will be in the future.

Notre Dame can write its own ticket.

BYU will continue to ride the coattails of ND as an independent.

But... but... but... haven't we been assured repeatedly that Notre Dame and BYU are BFFs.

@ Howard S.

BFFs? Not so sir. Just a figment of your on-going anti-BYU imagination.

No doubt that Notre Dame and BYU have many attributes in common (just as BYU and Utah have much in common), but at the end of the day, they will each look out for their own separate good.

This article's main idea seems dated, the committee to pick the final four is supposed to only use conference championships as tie-breakers in the event of a tie for the other criteria which has not been totally fleshed out yet but will not include conference championships. This means, that BYU is actually in a good position as it can increase it's strength of schedule more easily than someone who has 75% or more of their games determined by their conference. It also means that Notre Dame needs no special consideration because of independence.

For a good article related to this look up "Is BYU's schedule enough to get into new four-team playoffs?" by Greg Welch on the ksl website. You will see the historical strength of schedule (SOS) required to get in the top four and the SOS of BYU, Utah, Boise State, TCU and Notre Dame since 2000. Really interesting article and well researched, it really shows that you can have a relatively low SOS and be in the top four depending on the win-loss record of the other top 10 teams.

@Rock

Your premise is baffling.
A bit of a Strawman.

The BCS AQ Conference System, is over.

Nobody will have an Exception.
It's Top 4 or Bust for everyone.

The Notre Dame Exception referred to a Top 8 finish, which guaranteed them a spot in one of 5 BCS Bowl games. That system is dead in two years.

Every team will be judged on SOS and Won-Loss Record now.
ND is always top ten in SOS.
BYU would have to improve their schedule considerably.

Utah better get in line behind real programs...SC, Oregon, Washington, ASU, Stanford, UCLA and Cal.

What will be fun to watch is all those teams which rode Conference Coat-Tails being left out.
Most years the Pac will be left on the sidelines....

The AQ's are dead, now anybody has a chance, some with much better odds, which is the way it should be.

No howie, no one has assured anyone that those two teams ar BFF's. Good friends yes but not BFF's(by they way, my 9 year old daughter uses that term quite a bit. I guess maybe your on the same maturity level). BYU doesn't ride coattails, they are independent. If you want a true coattail rider, look at any team in the bottom half of a conference(especially BCS) year in and year out. Maybe wacpad is worried his team will be there, again...still...after another season in their new conference.

Notre Dame, if they lose one game, still has a very good chance of being in the top 4 by virtue of their SOS. BYU would have to start in the top 20 and go undefeated to have any shot at all. Not gonna happen this year but, if and when they do, it will be because they earned it independently

Howie

But... but... but... we do know that Utah is Colorado's BFF.

LOL

The moment I heard that there would be a 4 team playoff, I felt nothing had changed. There will still be a group of men in a dark, smoke filled room deciding who belongs in this new playoff. And I would bet that the process will favor the SEC, ACC, PAC 12, Big 10, and other conferences that have enjoyed favorite status in the BCS.

BYU fans have been riding Colorado's coattails for almost a year! Sad.

BYU = Lone Ranger
ND = Tonto

Now that's funny.

OK - this what will happen

2014 - BYU 12-0 and many other major conferance (no more bcs) schools who are 10-2.
who gets in 4 10-2 teams gets in. No problem

2015 - BYU 12-0 again. Same results to other big schools 10-2 gets in and BYU still looking in.

2016 - Again 12-0 and Notre Dame 11-1 (ND lost to BYU). ND gets in and BYU still looking in.

I can see utah going to be still looking in.

Big boys Committees and NCAA people are such a joke. Nothing going to change!

Another interesting contribution by the Rockmonster. Thanks Brad.

Notre Dame is the most popular school in America, BYu the least. Notre Dame could be in ANY conference they wanted to join. I bet that the MWC wouldn't accept BYu back even if they begged.

BYu is indy because that is their only option..........,maybe the Big Sky would accept them, maybe?

BYU fans aren't expecting to ride the coattails of ND, and I haven't hard one say that we are. The sportswriters, on the other hand, can't seem to leave the topic alone.

It really is a mute point to consider BYU in any possible playoff format. Their recruiting is ranked in the bottom half, never to improve that much. And, I don't see their schedule ever that good. They will get a few 2 for 1 deals with ND, GaTech and the like, but at least half of their schedule will continue to be un-watchable garbage. BYu football will be gone within the next 6-10 years.

Would this article ever be written in South Bend? ND doesn't even give a sniff about anyone let alone BYU.

Six game schedule is simply a smart move on ND's behalf and since three of the six are played in Provo.... Hold on. What? It's only 2 in Provo? That sounds like MWC, WAC stuff.

I don't think BYU holds as many cards as some of their more ardent fans think. This is a team that is begging Utah to play them, and they still think they are on a par with Notre Dame. It gets a little embarrassing to see such overreaching. Basically all BYU got from independence was Boise States old TV times.

Notre Dame represents it's own interests; however, as an independent, what ND does for itself benefits other independents.

Most years there are only 1 - 3 undefeated teams. The committee will have a hard time leaving an undefeated team out of the playoffs. Neither BYU nor Utah has a shot at being selected to the playoffs if they have one loss. However, teams like Alabama, LSU, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Texas have a shot at being a Top 4 team even with one loss, depending on who / how the loss happened.

This should give BYU the opportunity to strengthen their schedule as top teams look to swap out their real cupcakes for a team like BYU that is more of a Top 20 - 40 team most years - a team they think they can beat but not always (just ask Oklahoma).

DEW Cougars
Sandy, UT
OK - this what will happen

2014 - BYU 12-0 and many other major conferance (no more bcs) schools who are 10-2.
who gets in 4 10-2 teams gets in. No problem

2015 - BYU 12-0 again. Same results to other big schools 10-2 gets in and BYU still looking in.

2016 - Again 12-0 and Notre Dame 11-1 (ND lost to BYU). ND gets in and BYU still looking in.

I can see utah going to be still looking in.

Big boys Committees and NCAA people are such a joke. Nothing going to change!

_____________________

Why naturally they would take Notre Dame over BYU in your example.
A WAC legacy team that plays a WAC schedule does not deserve a title shot.

In addition, any team with a 6-9 lifetime record against San Jose St., does not deserve a title shot either.
BYU is out of the running!

CougFaninTx projects "This should give BYU the opportunity to strengthen their schedule as top teams look to swap out their real cupcakes for a team like BYU."
True -- in September. But then those teams are in conference play. BYU will replace some cupcakes for the star teams, but BYU will be left eating its own cupcakes in November.

BYU shouldn't follow Notre Dame's trail. It goes nowhere. ND got to a couple of BCS bowls, but they never finished above 6th in the BCS rankings. They will not be involved in the new playoffs.

This is one of the least substantive articles I've ever read. I could have written in one or two sentences what this article conveyed. "While BYU and Notre Dame maintain a professionally friendly relationship, as evidenced by their 6-game series, and while both similarly are college football independents, it can not necessarily be said that Notre Dame is negotiating on BYU's behalf. Notre Dame will ultimately just look out for Notre Dame." There. You did not get anything out of this article that I didn't say right there.

Furthermore, this is just plain stupid. I get that it's the slow season in Utah sports and sometimes these columnists have to really reach for topics, but seriously Brad Rock? Yes, Notre Dame will look out for Notre Dame, and they are not negotiating on anyone else's behalf. But #1: what's good for Notre Dame is typically good for BYU. So in a sense, they are indirectly representing BYU's interests. And #2: The playoff selection system hasn't been decided, and ultimately it's going to take being one of the four most regarded teams in the nation to get in, irrespective of affiliations