BTF

Are the Legends going to stake their claim as the Top team in 5a like they did last year?

The two Fort Wayne kids are ranked as the 3rd and 17th best receivers in the country. Not bad. Would be nice to see Notre Dame close the deal on both of them, but it appears Ohio State will come across state lines and hijack one of them.

You might be surprised. Basketball for sure. I'm guessing all the country club sports as well.

Most of them would probably answer "yes." Half those guys would be working a job that pays 60k per year versus the millions that they earned.

I would agree that maintaining the integrity of an academic institution and winning a national championship don't go hand in hand. But they've proved they can play in a big payout game and still hold onto their academic reputation.

I'm actually good with a bunch of kids who can coherently answer a question in the post game interviews. And Freeman did ink twenty 4-star players. Smart kid + 4-star athlete = playoff opportunity/big payout game. I'm not sure Notre Dame is willing to lower their standard to win the whole thing. They still consider themselves an academic university. After all, it is college.

This forum loses a lot of it's content if I do. You're safe.

Because a 30 year old coordinator who moved himself up the ranks left the program? I'm sure it's the relationship he built with Rees, but as a coordinator, he's hardly the end all be all. Still laughing at "highest paid coordinator in the country."

That doesn't appear to the be the case. I'd like to elaborate a little more on what makes Tommy Rees the highest paid coordinator in football. If anyone has an opinion on this, please share it. I think he's a good coordinator, but hardly the highest paid in the country. Saban's motive for hiring Rees: He's good, but does Saban really think he's the best out there? Or does he think hiring Rees will go a long way in beating LSU? Does Brian Kelly make Nick Saban nervous? He probably should. In my opinion, Brian Kelly's resume at Notre Dame, is at minimum, just as impressive as Saban's is at Alabama. I think both coaches are on equal footing. I also think that Saban knows this. He's 0-1 against Kelly in SEC play, and that's with much better talent. Maybe hiring Rees gives Saban an inside track on beating Kelly.

So the joke is on Nick Saban? I actually don't disagree with your writeup. I've been saying all along that Tommy Rees is replaceable. Is he a good coordinator? Sure. But in my opinion, he hasn't done anything at ND that any other good coordinator couldn't have done. The ultimate goal for Tommy Rees is a head coaching position. He's using Nick Saban to advance that opportunity. No more, no less. I'm sure his ultimate dream location is Notre Dame.

No, that's why I said two of three.

Figured that's what you meant. Are we in agreement that BD and WC have potential for really good football seasons this year?

Ben Davis and Warren Central's enrollments will keep them relevant. I'm also presuming both schools are beneficiaries (to some extent) to some of inner city Indy's best athletes transferring outside the donut. My perspective from the outside looking in. I'll even make a bold prediction and say that Warren Central and Ben Davis will be two of the top three teams in Central Indiana in 2023.

Maybe IMG was inspired by the Jaylon Smith led 7 on 7 team from Fort Wayne that traveled down to Florida and won the whole tournament. How many starters return? They were just a few plays away from an undefeated regular season last year.

No valid source for my claim, but there was some chatter that Ben Davis had reached out to Concordia when the SAC was looking for Week 1 & 2 opponents. To their defense, Snider, Carroll, Homestead, and Dwenger had agreements already in place when that rumor was circulating. Maybe the Giants just needed someone to fill their schedule. Again, take this with a grain of salt, no inside information on this claim.

They went from pursuing Concordia to landing IMG?

I believe teams are ranked on overall strength regardless of class.

Who were you thinking should be higher? If you go back to the 90's, Penn would elevate over Snider. Not sure anyone else can make a case.

"There's a fine line between tough and crazy, and you're flirting with it." Coach Yoast He went beyond flirting with it. He was past crazy.

Surprises me a little bit coming out of the bible belt. I have mixed feelings here. On one hand, that kind of language can make a guy look more ignorant that what he is. On the other, he seems to know how to get football players in the right mindset to knock their opponent on their ass. Unfortunately, that type of speech trumps 'love of teammates' speech when it comes to the sport of football.

It's just hard to ignore what happened in the playoffs. Michgan's body of work over the course of the season ranks second only to Georgia. But damn, Ohio State looked impressive in the playoff.

No, not in terms of fairness when it comes to polls. If I was part of the poll committee. I'd have to go Georgia, TCU, Michigan, then Ohio State based on head to head matchups. I'm a pretty fair guy. But if someone asked me off the record who I thought were the best four teams at the very end of the season, I'd have to go with Georgia/Ohio State as 1a/b. Michigan at #3. In my opinion, #4 is an absolute crapshoot. What is hard about a poll like this is the fact that some teams just match up better with others. Michigan being a better matchup for TCU than Georgia. Just because TCU got embarrassed by the Bulldogs, doesn't mean Michigan would have. Michigan handily beat Ohio State, then Ohio State almost (should have) beat Georgia. LSU beat Bama, does that mean LSU is deserving of a higher ranking? Of course not. Polls are a bitch. I commend you for the effort you put into the weekly high school poll.

Ohio State and Michigan squandered their 50/50 shot at winning the national championship.

Agree. I have Michigan at #3, but you're not going to like who I have at #2: 1. Georgia 2. Ohio State (They had Georgia beat) 3. Michigan After that, it's a crapshoot. There are ten teams that could tickle that #4 spot. TCU beat Michigan......bla bla bla. The better team doesn't always win. See the Ohio State Georgia game. . No, Ohio State proved that.

How does the saying go? You can wish in one hand, shit in the other and see which happens first? Again, sports can be cruel. I wanted an all Big Ten final as much as anyone. Why does being close for three quarters matter? It means that two equal caliber teams were engaged in a competitive battle. Michigan has a couple of big plays early in the fourth and you get a snowball affect. Michigan beats TCU nine times out of ten. Ohio State plays Michigan within a touchdown nine times out of ten.