2 of something else, she would've been the King.

We'd all have a Merry Christmas".

...favorite sayings. He'd use it all the time when I was a kid.

We should be 9-0 with a marginal amount of those two things this year.

Recruiting is improving.

What my pops would say.

…then beggars would ride.

We could beat anyone! Well anyone except Eli Manning.

That team almost certainly would've made the CFP. What if BK had played for the FG at the end of the '10 Tulsa game? What if he had kicked the PAT up 11 v. NW in '14? What if ND had gotten flagged for 2 men on field w/ same # in '12 Pitt game? What if BK hadn't faced a series of interim USC HC's? What if Trevor Lawrence had been cleared to play at ND last year?

The list of such questions is potentially endless. Going back, what if Monk & LeBlanc had prevailed over Jenkins on keeping TW in '03? What if GOL hadn't fudged his resume? What if Ted & Ned had decided in fall '80 that their prior hire of a HS HC (Brennan) hadn't worked out, so why tempt fate this time? What if Gary Forystek had not suffered a broken collarbone at PU in '77? What if the wind had kicked back up when Harry O lined up for his FG try v. UM in '80?

Chuck Martin would be dominant right now.

ND would be undefeated against this schedule and likely be in control. I don't think Notre Dame would be left out at 12-0, even against this crap sandwich schedule.

Now, if every Top 20-caliber team could take 2 key elements that were/are negatives and magically make them better or erase them from existence, then No - ND would not be a favorite to land one of the top 4 spots.

I honestly don't know, but it sure feels like a prerequisite of late.

had stayed?

We still lack enough elite talent to win it all, particularly on defense but and experienced mobile QB might have helped for the first half of the season. C'est la vie.

or how about Tom Carter and the Bus?

I think we would be undefeated and a threat if Phil had been able to deal with the angst.

What if we had Hamilton next year?

And so it goes.

TC and Bettis? Why would you tear that scar open? I've played that, "what if ..." game too many times.

In all seriousness, great examples.

bottomless pit that awaits one who plays that game. Been there, done that, too many times since 1964, and Huarte's Heisman Award. Yet, I never learn; every injury, ineligibility, declaration for the draft, and transfer demands a "What If." In Indonesian it would be, "tidak apa-apa saja." It just doesn't matter. Thank God, for Tim Brown.

You would have a point wrt our potential performance in the CFP though.

Even with good OL development and more recruiting hits, I don't think ND would have had the transcendent QB to overcome our lack of elite WR and CB talent to be favored to win the playoff over a team like Georgia.

As far as being favored to get into the playoff, I think it would depend on how we had looked in our wins. If we had the same results as now but had beat Cincy by less than 10 points, then I think we'd be around the same situation as Oklahoma is right now: a good but flawed team that hasn't looked great despite being undefeated.

UGA's defense is historically good.

I agree that better OL play obviously would have allowed Coan more time to set his feet and throw this year. We've seen proof that he has decent arm strength and accuracy when he gets good protection, and this could have made the difference in the Cincinnati game. The defense did a pretty good job that day, with only the Bearcats' last TD drive to ice the game the real inexcusable breakdown. So, better execution on offense to convert one of our failed drives into a score could have made the difference.

But, "more recruiting hits" could mean a lot things. Had we gotten a few more elite skill players and DLs over the last three recruiting classes, yeah that could have made a huge difference. Kyle Hamilton is a stellar athlete, but imagine if we had someone of his caliber in the LB corps or on the line (NB: JOK was pretty close). Totally different team.

So, yeah, one or two more home-run recruits and an OL actually playing up to its talent level and we'd be undefeated and in the mix for the playoffs.