At the risk of sounding like “Rain Man,” the only way I can answer the question of whether Notre Dame belongs in a Bowl Championship Series game is: No, no, definitely not.
There is no way that Notre Dame should be one of the two at-large teams chosen for the BCS! This was further proved Saturday as the Irish barely hung on to beat a five-win Stanford team.
That win was Notre Dame’s ninth, making it BCS eligible. Well, nine wins is respectable, but let’s examine those victories.
Notre Dame’s “biggest” wins on a scale of toughness were over currently twentieth-ranked Michigan at the beginning of the season and Tennessee at the end of the season; both opponents were playing at their worst. In fact, only three of Notre Dame’s wins came against teams with an above .500 record, and those teams’ combined for a 19-13 record.
Common opponents between Notre Dame and oh, Oregon. Both have played three other Pacific-10 Conference schools: top-ranked USC, Washington and Stanford.
Notre Dame nearly beat USC, while Oregon lost by 32. However,had Oregon played USC later in the season, perhaps when Notre Dame did, the score might have been different.
Both teams beat Washington – Notre Dame 36-17 and Oregon 45-21. The same with Stanford, but the difference was that it took until the final minute for Notre Dame to pull off the seven-point win, while Oregon won 44-20.
It will likely come down to Notre Dame, Ohio State, Auburn and Oregon for the two at-large bids. Each of those teams has two losses, except Oregon.
Everyone wants to watch a great matchup, which will happen if any two of those teams are pitted against each other. However, the likely scenario is that because Notre Dame has great “appeal,” it will be chosen. That leaves Ohio State, Auburn and Oregon hoping for a chance.
Auburn probably is too far back in the standings, so toss them out of the mix. Nobody can deny that a Notre Dame/Ohio State game would bring in great ratings. However, so would a matchup of Notre Dame/Oregon or Ohio State/Oregon.
If the Ducks aren’t selected, it will mark the second time that they have been snubbed by the BCS (2001 when Nebraska was picked over Oregon to play in the championship game) and the second year in a row that the Pac-10 has been slighted.
The bottom line is that of any of the two-loss teams, Notre Dame deserves a bid the least. It had a weak schedule, has lost to an under -.500 opponent in Michigan State (5-6) and the Irish are more known for their past than their present success.
The BCS has a new low or controversy each year and this season won’t be any different. Regardless of whether Notre Dame is selected, I just hope that this time it isn’t Oregon being screwed – again.

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