program trajectory: It's strong. Really strong.

by Jay, San Diego, Thursday, May 16, 2013, 09:54 (4772 days ago) @ Jim (fisherj08)

One fun way to figure out where a team stands is to play the "How many ifs?" game. How many "Ifs" does it take to put a team at a certain level?

Top 15: If Golson avoids a serious slump, and if a young running back can provide some level of reliability, this should be a Top 15 team based solely on defensive potential and some decent big-play ability on offense.

Top 10: If Golson avoids a serious slump, if a young running back can provide some level of reliability, and if one of the freshman or sophomore DBs breaks through, this is likely a Top 10 team.

Top 5: If Golson avoids a serious slump, if a young running back can provide some level of reliability, if one of the freshman or sophomore DBs breaks through, and if one more receiver breaks through alongside Jones and Daniels, this is likely a Top 5 team.

This isn't an overt number of "ifs." Notre Dame broke into the Top 15 in 2011, then played like it in 2012. I think slight improvement is likely again, though another undefeated record in close games probably isn't. Against a slate the features seven teams projected in the Top 31 (four at home), the Irish will need a couple more breaks to again make the title game, but at this point one cannot question the program's trajectory: It's strong.

Really strong. Whether people saw it 12 months ago doesn't really matter; they see it now.

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Complete thread:

Bill Connelly's Notre Dame preview - Jim (fisherj08), 2013-05-16, 08:27
- pretty solid preview - Pat, 2013-05-16, 10:09
  - and he wrote a book this offseason, too - LaFortune Teller, 2013-05-16, 18:10
- program trajectory: It's strong. Really strong. - Jay, 2013-05-16, 09:54
  - that's exciting - HumanRobot, 2013-05-16, 09:58
    - probably top -10. concept drawing - Jay, 2013-05-16, 10:01
      - So the next Shamrock Series game will be Reykjavik? - Savage, 2013-05-16, 11:39
      - get with the times - Pat, 2013-05-16, 10:13
        
        This is ND, tradition is more important - Jeff (BGS), 2013-05-16, 11:32
- Not gonna lie: That F+ progression graph is sexxxy. - PAK, 2013-05-16, 09:48
  - I think the "F" in "F+" stands for "Fuzzy" - Jay, 2013-05-16, 10:05
    - witch's brew! - HumanRobot, 2013-05-16, 13:29
      - Bitches Brew - Samari, 2013-05-16, 16:10
  - Except the 2007 part - CK08, 2013-05-16, 09:56
- This is always interesting - CK08, 2013-05-16, 08:39
  - This is where Bill's approach and mine are most distinct. - LaFortune Teller, 2013-05-16, 13:01
  - Poot and I were discussing the BYU game via twitter - Jim (fisherj08), 2013-05-16, 08:41
  - Sports Math! - NDTex, 2013-05-16, 08:40
    - I like sports math - Greg, 2013-05-16, 08:58
    - I come here mainly for the math. - scriptcomesfirst, 2013-05-16, 08:57

the Polo Grounds

program trajectory: It's strong. Really strong.