Sugar Bowl thoughts

One thing I appreciate about the blogosphere is that you can usually find what you need if you look around.

As I’m watching LSU demolish Notre Dame last night, I can’t help but wonder if Charlie Weis is one of the more overrated head coaches (as opposed to offensive coordinators) in college football. After all, who exactly have the Fighting Irish beaten during his tenure?

So I figure that I’ll have to research this question that’s nagging me – but then I find that the guys at Saurian Sagacity have already done the heavy lifting. Check this out:

…To sum, Charlie Weis’ record at Notre Dame –

Never has beaten a single ranked team
0-4 versus ranked teams
0-1 in bowl games
Combined record of teams he has beaten: 101-128 (44%)
Combined score in losses: 203-137

Signature wins appear to be over Navy both years, and Penn State this year.

Hey, you guys left out the signature loss against USC last season!

That was written before last night’s game, so you can stick another 27 point loss to a ranked opponent on Charlie’s resume.

After the debacle, according to ESPN’s Mark Schlabach, here’s Weis’ assessment of his team:

“We’ve got to turn the corner because right now we’ve got a nice, solid team. You want to be an upper-echelon team, not a nice, solid team, and a team competing for national championships. That just won’t cut it with how this ended.”

If what he means by a “nice, solid team” is a team that hasn’t beaten an opponent ranked at this time (Penn State might squeak in with the final poll), that probably covers a lot of D-1 teams, doesn’t it? It sounds like… oh… Kentucky. Was Kentucky in a BCS game?

Every year I keep wondering what the pollsters see in the Irish and every year I keep wondering why the BCS formula doesn’t get tweaked to lessen Notre Dame’s opportunity to play in a big bowl game. They keep getting ranked and they keep losing every meaningful game they play.

Notre Dame is the Lucy Van Pelt of college football.

That’s nine bowl losses in a row. When will these idiots learn?

Let’s not let the other participant in last night’s game go unscathed, either. I look at LSU and I marvel at the size, speed and depth on display.

Then I remember that the Tigers are a two loss team.

I watch the freak of nature that is JaMarcus Russell play and see the size and physical ability that has every pro scout drooling and am awed at what he’s capable of doing, not to mention the ease with which he does it.

Then I remember that these guys lost at Auburn. By a score of 7-3.

To a remarkable degree, LSU has squandered its talent this year. This really should have been the team playing Ohio State next week. Although after seeing the bowl games to date, the matchup I’d like to see now would be the “Blown Opportunity Bowl”, featuring LSU and Southern Cal.

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