Whether you saw the Blue-Gold game live or followed along with the reviews, the Irish have had a relatively eventful off-season. A solid recruiting class headlined by defensive stalwart Manti Te’o preceded three coaching changes. Rumors emerged from Spring practice sessions highlighting quarterback Jimmy Clausen’s continued development, defensive lineman Ethan Johnson domination of one-on-one drills […]

Most pre-season prognosticators had the Georgia Bulldogs atop the polls to start the year. A strong finish to the 2007 season coupled with incumbent quarterback Matthew Stafford, star running back Knowshon Moreno, and freshman phenom A.J. Green led many to believe the Bulldogs had the inside track at the national championship. Obviously, the crystal football […]

Notre Dame has concluded their regular season, and a reflection on the Irish offense’s progress (or lack thereof) is warranted. The mid-year numbers are here, and this analysis was performed in similar fashion by benchmarking against the competition. Facing the 73rd toughest AV Ranking strength of schedule, the Irish only managed to go 6-6. But […]

Disclaimer: The following is not intended for betting purposes. The AV Ranking was two for three in conference championship picks from last week. It was much less accurate, however, predicting the odds of beating the spreads. While the AV Ranking was able to successfully predict Oklahoma beating the 17 point spread in the Big 12 […]

Disclaimer: the following is not intended for betting purposes. As promised here and here, this week the AV ranking will be used to predict the Big 12, ACC, and SEC conference championship games. Forgetting for the moment that the AV Ranking would have put Texas in the Big 12 championship over Oklahoma, these conference championship […]

The season is winding down and the BCS picture is becoming more and more clear. With so many one-loss teams a controversy is brewing, but a lot (albeit not all) should be settled with the conference championships. Visit these links to see the prior releases of the ESP for weeks eight, nine, ten, eleven, and […]

Little has changed from week eleven to twelve of the ESP. The difference in the top teams lies largely in who does and who doesn’t control their own desitiny. As the season draws to an end, the national championship picture becomes more clear and the AV Ranking more closely approaches Sagarin. Similarly, the ESP approaches the […]

It’s time for week eleven of the ESP. To observe the trends of the ESP and AV Ranking check out weeks eight, nine, and ten. Also, check back in at the end of the season where there will be a few validation studies of the AV Ranking as well as predictions of the BCS bowl […]

After a heart-wrenching loss to Pittsburgh, Notre Dame hits the road for the second time in three weeks traveling to the East coast to take on Boston College. The Eagles have owned the series in recent years, but the Irish look to redeem themselves after squandering a two-touchdown lead last week. Entering Saturday’s contest, neither […]

It’s week ten of the ESP and week three of the BCS Standings. A comparison of the ESP and AV Ranking follows. Elite Selection Playoff For the second week in a row the top five of the ESP are identical to the BCS Standings. Despite the loss, Texas only dropped three spots. This is in […]