Notre Dame Sucks

Cheer, Cheer For God's Overrated, Overhyped Egocentric Collection of Gridiron Pansies

The pre-season AP poll is finally out, and with Notre Dame coming in at #2, the chorus can already be heard across the land:

Notre...Dame...SUCKS!!!

Notre Dame sucks? I guess we are on the first-grade playground. If so, my reply would be “Oh yeah? Well YOU suck. And so does your mom!” But we are not on the first-grade playground. We are rational, thinking adults who formulate logical analysis based on fact, not bias or speculative supposition. So for everyone’s edification, here are the facts (in the interest of full disclosure, I am a 1990 Notre Dame graduate.)

There’s no arguing that ND’s record of late has been poor, even pitiful. They have lost eight straight bowl games dating back to 1995, including six by more than two touchdowns. Their final 2005 AP ranking of 9th was the team’s first Top-10 finish since 1993, when they finished the season 11-1 and ranked 3rd. The seasons since 1993 have more often times than not been marked with embarrassing losses and blowout bowl games.

Yet it has not always been this way, and to generalize that “Notre Dame sucks” based on the performance of a recent thirteen-year stretch (from 1993-2005, 79-52-1 0.598) is disingenuous at best and it ignores the nearly 140-year tradition of college football. Or stated more pragmatically, this label is merely a “convenient truth” based on a selected sampling of recent data.

Here are ten facts from the whole enchilada, if you will:

1. Notre Dame continually plays a highly competitive, national schedule. Since 1977, the NCAA has produced a list of toughest schedules based on the record of Division I-A opponents when not playing the team in question (bowl games are not included). In those 28 years, the Notre Dame schedule five times (in 1978, 1985, 1987, 1989 and 1995) has been rated one of the most difficult in the country, three times has finished third (1986, 1999 and 2003) and twice fourth (1979 and 1990). In 1987, Notre Dame played eight teams in the top 20 either at the time the game was played or in the final regular-season poll. In 1986, Notre Dame played four teams ranked in the top 10 time of the game, which marked the first time an Irish team met four top 10 teams in a season since 1978. Since the weekly AP rankings began in 1936, the 1989 and 1990 campaigns marked the first in which the Irish played seven ranked opponents during the season. Notre Dame has had 10 seasons in which it played six ranked opponents.

2. ND historically has had one of the highest graduation rates for football team members and student athletes. Last year's rate for the football team was 96%, second to only Navy. This is noteworthy when considering that two of the eight BCS teams (Georgia and Texas) had graduation rates below 50%.

3. All-time Top 25 AP Poll Finishes. ND (47) is second to only Michigan (52)

4. Total weeks ranked #1 in AP Poll. ND is 1st, with 88.

5. Heisman Trophy Winners. Tied for 1st with USC (7).

6. National Championships. The most national championships (11 consensus, 8 AP) of any school.

7. All-Time Winning Percentage, 1869-2005. Notre Dame's is 0.74352, second only to Michigan (0.74421)

8. Ranked as #1 All-Time Program by Billingsley, 1869-2005. The Richard Billingsley ranking is part of the current BCS formula.

9. Most consensus All-Americans. The NCAA recognizes members of a consensus All-America team each season — with 95 of those selections having worn a Notre Dame uniform. Notre Dame has had 79 different players earn the consensus designation, more than any other school.

10. Most unanimous first-team All-Americans. The NCAA also recognizes first-team All-Americans chosen on a unanimous basis. Notre Dame has had 30 unanimous choices, more than any other university.

There. That seems sufficient, for now. So the next time you feel the need to ignornatly declare your lemming-like stupidity by pronouncing, "Notre Dame sucks!", ask yourself this simple question: if a storied program with such a long history of success and accolades "sucks", then what does that say about your team?