In this instance he’s a ND fan, so I get the chest beating - his team did just play in the national championship (and Marcus Freeman gets to rub Chip Kelly’s face in that). But I’m intrigued by the question…is Notre Dame an elite program?
They definitely were an elite program historically, but they fell off after 1988 - the waning years of Lou Holtz followed by Bob Davy.
They had a huge NBC advantage in the early decades of televised football. Thats completely gone now, as their exclusive revenue deal has been surpassed by the B1G and no one is forced to watch nbc as the only game nationally available.
Their independent status and refusal to join a conference has hurt them, as every year they are discounted due to a weak strength of schedule. I’d also argue this spills over into poor postseason performances with a sub .500 record since 2000. They need to play top 5 teams during the season to figure out how to win at that level, and this doesn’t seem like a challenge they’re up for.
They had a great run this year, but I feel they’re an also-ran in the modern game. Alabama clearly deserves elite status, probably the Buckeyes as well. I just don’t see ND being anywhere close, but curious to hear others think after this postseason run.
