cabiness42

And I didn't bet ND that game either. That was an obvious letdown game after Oklahoma.

I guess it depends on your definition of "Most Valuable". If it's best player in the league, then no, I don't think anybody is putting Cutler in that discussion, but if your definition of "Most Valuable" is how much worse your team gets without you, then Cutler is probably in that discussion.

The betting public make Oklahoma a 13-point favorite over ND.

Trent Dilfer said last night that if you don't judge QBs by stats but judge them by the number of their team's flaws they cover up, Cutler might be the best QB in the league.

Stanford's offensive line is awfully good. You can keep the blinders on as much as you want, nobody should be a 10 point favorite over a team with ND's defense.

Alabama scores plenty, but ND is giving up an average of 11 points per game so a line of 10 points is ridiculous. Oklahoma, USC, and Michigan are all pretty potent offenses that couldn't manage more than 13 points against ND.

Colts just got a penalty for having 12 players on the field. That penalty was offset by a penalty on the Bills for having 12 players on the field. It's official, the Bills are now a CFL team.

OK, Florida has a better record than LSU and A&M AND beat them head to head. There is no possible justification for ranking Florida lower than either. Other than that, I can actually buy A&M pretty high. If you asked me who is the last team I'd want to see ND face for the championship, the answer might very well be A&M.

It turns out that the Bears are playing the Vikings, so no worries.

From what I've seen, Georgia would still be a favorite over ND but only by 4-5 points.

Once Florida won yesterday, everybody else's chances were pretty much gone and I don't think most others wanted to see them in the title game. Also, Florida's win yesterday locked up a top-4 BCS finish for them which means they are automatically the second SEC team in a BCS bowl, and LSU, A&M, and the Ala-Ga loser are all left out.

Yes, I meant + and have fixed that. Go ahead and name your amount. You have a bet.

There won't be an official line for a week or so, but I've seen projections that ND would be anywhere from +10 to +11½ against Alabama with a money line of about 2½ to 1.

The last time ND earned a national championship was my sophomore year there, but I was in 8th grade the last time they were actually awarded one.

The 200K is not significant, and having Wise allows you to stash Danks at AAA in case of emergency.

I don't know how to put a dollar amount on it, but the guarantee of 5 TV games against ND every two years is definitely worth something.

ND does not share their bowl/playoff money with the ACC, and the ACC does not share their bowl/playoff money with ND. You have to figure that even as weak as the ACC is, they will get more playoff appearances than ND by itself.

The ACC gets a ratings boost based on the fact that they are playing Notre Dame instead of Savannah State or Western Carolina for some of their nonconference games.

FSU (and every ACC team) will be on ND's schedule a minimum of 2 out of every 8 years--that's part of the agreement. By the time the ND arrangement takes effect, the 4-team playoff will be here and if there is a year where FSU and ND don't play each other and both go undefeated, they'll almost certainly both make the playoff. I don't know for sure that Texas to the ACC will happen, but I know for a fact that the discussions have occurred. Texas is the school that originally pitched a ND-to-the-Big12 plan just like the one ND ended up taking from the ACC, but ND did not like the fit for all their other sports in the Big 12 and had no real interest in playing games against Big 12 teams other than Texas and Oklahoma. ND ended up taking the ACC deal and has suggested to both Texas and the ACC that they do the same thing.

They don't get any portion of ND's TV deal, but ND's TV deal covers only ND home games, and half of ND's 5 games per year they are obligated to are going to be home games for the ACC teams, so that will be a big ratings boost which should lead to a better TV deal for the ACC.

Right, but ACC football isn't strong enough for a 1-loss team to get into the Championship game, and maybe not even into the 4-team playoff. In a couple years, five ACC teams a year have ND on their schedule, which is going to strengthen the conferences SOS and thus their computer ratings. Plus, half of those games will be home games for the ACC teams which brings a lot of dollar value to the next TV contract. FSU is never getting an invite from the SEC or the Big Ten, so they're either going to stay in the ACC or move to the Big 12, and Texas moving to the ACC makes that decision for them.

Who the ACC gets to replace Maryland will go a long way toward deciding FSU's fate. If they go with a Northeastern school with a weak football program like UConn, then FSU will be booking the next train out of town. If they go with a southern school with a better football program, like Louisville, that makes it more palatable for FSU to stay. Also, I think that a duplicate of ND's deal is still on the table for Texas and the ACC. That would certainly convince FSU to stay.

UNC and Texas to the Big Ten would be far more surprising/shocking than Urban to OSU or Maryland/Rutgers to the Big Ten.

I think too much of UNC's identity is wrapped up in their basketball rivalry with Duke, and I don't see Texas giving up the Longhorn Network. I think Texas will either stay in the Big 12 or copy ND and join the ACC for all sports but football but have an agreement to play 5 games a year against ACC teams.