Looks can be deceiving.
Amid all the upsets and collapses of one of the wackiest seasons in recent memory, who would have predicted Notre Dame would sit atop the college football world?
From unranked to undefeated, the Fighting Irish punched their ticket to Miami, Fla., for a date with either Alabama or Georgia in the BCS Championship by taking down USC 22-13 on Saturday.
How fitting that the Fighting Irish would make reservations for their trip from South Bend to South Beach against the Trojans, who were The Associated Press’ preseason No. 1.
Coach Brian Kelly is proving the doubters, who didn’t think his success would carry over from Cincinnati to Notre Dame, wrong. Senior linebacker Manti Te’o put together a Heisman Trophy campaign despite the many who questioned his decision to go to South Bend.
Sounds too good to be true, right? Well it is.
Notre Dame sewing up a spot in the championship doesn’t guarantee the Fighting Irish’s fairytale won’t turn into a nightmare. There’s still a lot for Kelly’s squad to prove, both to itself and to the naysayers like me who aren’t buying its unblemished record.
College football writers heaped praise on the Irish all weekend after they secured a spot in the national championship. While the Southeastern Conference has been noted for its juggernauts and daunting schedules, Notre Dame’s slate looks great on paper.
Of the 12 opponents the Irish defeated during the regular season, seven of those will be going bowling. Pittsburgh could be the eighth bowl-eligible team they faced if it takes down South Florida in the regular-season finale.
But when the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum scoreboard read all zeroes Saturday night, I still couldn’t come to grips that Notre Dame would get a chance to hoist the crystal football Jan. 7. Just because the Irish were able to escape the season unscathed doesn’t mean they should be considered head-and-shoulders above the rest of the country.
Notre Dame’s résumé comes with a lot of questions. Despite wins against a multitude of bowl-eligible teams, most of its opponents are in far from appealing matchups.
Does scrapping together six wins to qualify for the bowl season hold as much significance as it used to?
Purdue will likely find itself in the Heart of Dallas Bowl, the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl is the anticipated destination for Michigan State and BYU will be sniffing flowers in the Poinsettia Bowl.
All three of those 6-6 teams fell to the Irish, but not by the margins they should have. Both BYU and Purdue lost by only a field goal.
The only two upper-echelon teams the Irish had to face were Stanford and Oklahoma. Even still, those wins didn’t have me convinced they were one of the best teams in the country.
Oklahoma has two losses, and Stanford lost to Washington, a team LSU blew out 41-3 earlier in the season.
Those who don’t reside in SEC country want the SEC’s reign of dominance in the BCS Championship to end. They will find any reason to get behind any team who doesn’t hail from the best conference in college football.
The Fighting Irish might as well take the “if you’re not first, you’re last” mantra with whomever they play in the title game, because nobody remembers second place. Their last three trips to BCS bowls have resulted in resounding losses.
The undefeated season, Te’o’s historic senior effort and the momentary resurgence of one of college football’s most historic programs won’t matter if the Fighting Irish don’t cash in on their opportunity to dethrone the SEC.
Getting to the championship game is one thing. Proving on a national stage you have what it takes to compete against a high-caliber SEC team with a month to prepare is quite another.
The national media is insistent Notre Dame’s run to the national championship isn’t a fluke. But the Irish’s schedule hasn’t prepared it for what lies ahead in the BCS Championship.
Micah Bedard is a 22-year-old history senior from Houma.
This columnist’s views do not represent those of The Daily Reveille.
