Did Notre Dame belong in the National Championship

Did Notre Dame belong in the National Championship?

A lot of people are asking after last night's beat down, if the Irish should have been in the National Championship. Most of this concern comes from the over reaction of the blowout but I do believe it is a valid question.

In today's system, there was no other team in the land that deserved to be number one purely to the fact that the Irish went undefeated. Were they the best team in the country, clearly not but Notre Dame was the only team that took care of business and won every game. While their schedule obviously does not line up with an SEC schedule, the Irish played formidable opponents like Michigan and Stanford.

Everyone will point out the magical escape of the Pittsburgh Panthers in Triple Overtime but every championship team has a game like that over the course of the season. For example, tears and all, AJ McCarron led a comeback victory in Baton Rouge earlier in the season. Of course Pitt and LSU do not match up but the theme is winning a game they had no business in winning.

Playoff System:
Thankfully, the NCAA board or whoever made this decision has chosen to institute a 4 team playoff in the 2014 season. In this system, Notre Dame would have faced Oregon who, after seeing this game, would look like a Duck blowout. But in fact Notre Dame is similar to Stanford who were the Duck's kryptonite this season. Florida would've faced Alabama and probably showed up for the game in an SEC clash. An Alabama-Oregon championship was every fan's dream and in the new playoff system it would have been made possible.

Deserving?
I honestly do believe Notre Dame did belong in the title game. They set themselves up with tough opponents throughout the season and took care of business. You can't fault them for going undefeated. The final point comes from the talk that I saw this coming. My response to that is 20-20 vision. Unless you had it in writing before the game thats a load of ___. I was one of the people that thought Notre Dame's defense would be able to keep them in the game but the first quarter and 4 seconds proved me wrong. I'm proud enough to admit it but would you if you were wrong?

Alabama-42
Notre Dame-14

Sportacular Sports Morning Recap

Tuesday, January 8th Morning headlines
(Recapping the Sports headlines from Monday, January 7th)

Alabama Crimson Tide-42
Notre Dame Fighting Irish-14
Obviously the big news comes from the National Championship blowout last night. Alabama destroyed Notre Dame 42-14. Under appreciated quarterback, AJ McCarron threw for 4 touchdowns and improved to 25-2 as a starter. He now has 2 National Championships under his belt and looked extremely poised in his untouched pocket last night. The kids awesome and his girlfriend is beautiful as well. I feel bad for Senior Linebacker Manti Te'o who's unbelievable defense got lit up on National Television. Eddie Lacy and T.J. Yeldon were superb and Nick Saban captured his 3rd title in 4 years. It's hard to imagine any top recruit looking for a ring won't be headed to Tuscaloosa. The best way to recruit would be to keep winning National Championships. Nick Saban is not going to leave this dynasty for the Cleveland Browns, so recruits definitely have some security. Roll Tide!

Washington Wizards-101
Oklahoma City Thunder-99

I didn't get a chance to watch this game but just from my readings I know the Wiz played a great game. Durant dropped 29 being himself but the Wizards captured another magical victory Monday Night. This all comes without star Point Guard John Wall. With wins over Miami and now OKC, the Wizards could have some positives going forward.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Southern California Trojans

Notre Dame Fighting Irish #1 (11-0) vs. USC Trojans (7-4)

The Grand daddy of them all (Brent Musberger voice) takes place tonight. Not actually, but no doubt this will be the most important game that takes place this evening. Earlier today, Ohio State locked up an undefeated season that would have placed them in the National Championship with this Irish team. Instead, with a win, the Irish will most likely face the winner of the SEC championship between Alabama (49-0 lead over Auburn) and Georgia (42-10 win today over Georgia Tech). The irony behind this game is that the pre-season national champion pick and Heisman favorite are now on the other side of the ball. I don't want to necessarily say that LB Manti Te'o is the favorite but he has an excellent chance now that Kenjon Barner and Collin Klein's teams have lost. Pre-season #1 USC led by Senior QB Matt Barkley has greatly underachieved this season. USC will try to play spoiler tonight with Matt Barkley sitting out of tonight's game with an injury.

USC will suit up behind redshirt freshman QB Max Wittek. The freshman earlier in the week said, "I will play within myself, I will play within the system, and we will win this game." Of course, the national media blew the entire thing up saying a freshman guaranteed a W over the number one team in the land. But, what else should the kid have said, We are going to lose? No, I understand he could have said none of that but he isn't pulling a Joe Namath. USC trusts this kid and are confident in pulling the upset. The Trojans are still excellent with a stud duo of wide receivers, Marquise Lee and Robert Woods. USC at home will be no pushover.

Now for the Fighting Irish. The Irish who were projected to have a good season have played all out defense and carried themselves to their "semi final game". A win in Cali tonight clinches a spot in the National Championship game and these kids know it. As much as I want the upset, this Irish team is too resilient and will be extremely focused tonight. Every team has to win one of the tight games that could cost them a chance and I think Notre Dame got past that against Pittsburgh. Manti Te'o is an excellent leader and no one scores many points against Notre Dame. Unfortunately, I don't think Notre Dame will be able to play with an Alabama or Georgia. 

Prediction: I don't want to pick against my hopes here, but I have to because I see Notre Dame winning this game. Notre Dame has faced Senior Quarterbacks on the road and they haven't fared well, I don't see Max Wittek pulling the upset. The way that USC can win this ball game is with excellent defense and they just don't have it. 

Final Score: Notre Dame-27  USC-17