BC's supposed rise to power (long and number intensive)

BC's supposed rise to power (long and number intensive)
by thalernd (2007-10-11 12:10:32)

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Since I've heard and read a lot of BC fans talking about their rise to football prominence and power in recent years, I thought it might be worthwhile to compare the greatest era in BC football history to the worst era in ND football history (1994-present) by the numbers.

For all of the smack talk BC fans spew, you'd think they'd actually won something other than a few Muffler Bowls over the last 13+ years and that Notre Dame was their bitch. Well, admittedly, ND has struggled against BC lately and we've been downright atrocious in bowl games, but here are a few facts BC fans should familiarize themselves with before they start yapping about ND thriving only in the distant past as they ascend to the top of the college football world.

Looks to me like our worst is quite comparable to their best.

FREDO'S “RISE TO POWER” vs. NOTRE DAME'S NADIR (1994 to Present)
OVERALL
BC 100-64-1
ND 99-65-1

VS. TOP OPPONENTS (teams considered to be traditional powers, which have also had considerable success since 1994, and recent power teams: Michigan, Ohio State, Florida State, Miami, Southern Cal, Texas, West Virginia, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Nebraska, LSU, Georgia and Virginia Tech)

BC 9-32-0 (.220)
(41 premiere games; 7 of BC’s 9 wins were over VT and WVU; BC also defeated Georgia and FSU once each)

ND 19-26-1 (.404)
(48 premiere games; ND has 2 or more wins vs. each of Michigan, USC, Texas, WVU, Tennessee and LSU during this period; ND also defeated FSU and Oklahoma once each)

VS. WEAK OPPONENTS(I-AA teams and I-A teams that have been perennial doormats since 1994: Army, Baylor, Ball St., Buffalo, Central Michigan, Duke, Maine, UMass, Northeastern, Rutgers, Temple, Stanford and Vanderbilt)

BC 40-2-1
(43 games and 40% of their wins since 1994 vs. the absolute dregs of college football, including 4 I-AA opponents; also note that BC lost once each to Stanford and Army, and tied Rutgers teams that went 19-13-2 in those seasons)

ND 17-3-0
(20 games and only 17% of our wins since 1994 vs. the absolute dregs of college football, but no I-AA opponents; also note that ND’s 3 losses were all to Stanford teams that went a combined 22-13 in those seasons)

VS. AVERAGE I-A OPPONENTS (everyone else)
BC 45-25-0 (.643)
ND 58-30-0 (.659)

HEAD-TO-HEAD
BC 6-5
ND 5-6

Edited: In original post, forgot to note the margin of victory in our recent meetings with BC because I've heard so much about how BC "thumps" ND lately.
BC has defeated ND by 1, 2, 7 and 4 in the last four meetings. They also beat us by 2 in 1999 and by 19 way back in 1994. ND's five wins over BC during this span were by 10, 27, 32, 5 and 12.

BOWL RECORD
BC 8-1
ND 0-9

BOWL GAMES
BC Carquest, Aloha (2), Insight, Music City, Motor City, San Francisco, Continental Tire, MPC Computers, Meineke Car Care

ND Fiesta (3), Sugar, Orange, Gator (2), Independence, Insight

JANUARY BOWLS
BC 0
ND 7

"BCS" BOWLS
BC 0
ND 5

BOWL OPPONENTS(w/ opponents’ records entering the bowl game)
BC 69-35 (.663)
Kansas State (9-2); Colorado (6-5); Arizona State (6-5); Georgia (8-3); Toledo (9-4); Colorado State (7-5); North Carolina (6-5); Boise St. (9-3); Navy (9-3)

ND 81-20 (.802)
Colorado (10-1); Florida State (9-2); LSU (8-2*); Georgia Tech (9-2); Oregon St. (10-1); NC State (10-3); Oregon St. (6-5); Ohio State (9-2); LSU (10-2)
Edit: *LSU was 8-3 heading into its Independence Bowl win over ND, but one of those 3 losses was a home beatdown by the Irish.

Top 25 National Rankings
BC 5 (avg AP rank, when ranked: 20.6)
ND 7 (avg AP rank, when ranked: 15.7)

With all we hear about BC consistently beating highly ranked ND teams, maybe we ought to check the facts:
1993: yes, #16 BC over #1 ND
1994: yes, ND was #8
1995: no, ND victory
1996: no, ND victory
1997: no, ND victory
1998: no, ND victory
1999: no, #25 BC over unranked ND
2000: no, ND victory
2001: no, ND was not ranked
2002: yes, ND was #4
2003: no, ND was not ranked
2004: no, ND was #24

We get scheduled above our capability because we're a huge ratings and attendance draw.

They get scheduled below their capability because they're a huge ratings and attendance sink. In particular, they travel poorly which makes for poor attendance.

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