Part 2 of this series of articles will cover the effects of scheduling and the benefit that playing home games have on a program, and how these areas have affected Notre Dame. While Part 1 focused on the player impact on a program, recruiting and development—something the coach and his staff have greater control over—this […]

The stat gurus at Football Outsiders have released the most recent edition of their off-season annual—Football Outsiders Almanac 2010—complete with an introductory explanation of some new and innovative statistics, 2010 projections for every college football team in the Football Bowl Subdivision, quarterback and recruiting rankings, and a brief history of conference realignment. In conjunction with […]

While the defense may be a bigger problem, one of the primary concerns for many Irish fans is the spread passing offense of new head coach Brian Kelly. Kelly makes no secret of his offensive goal, he wants to be aggressive and vertical, scoring on every possession. As such, he favors the pass over the […]

Disclaimer: The following is not intended for betting purposes. Similar to last year, the final AV Ranking values (see the values in the table below) will be used to predict the BCS bowl game winners against the spread. The BCS games are as follows: Rose Bowl presented by Citi: Ohio State vs. Oregon Tostitos Fiesta […]

If the ESP determined the National Championship Game participants, it would be all but a done deal. Unless Texas loses to Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship, they will face the winner of the SEC Championship game which pits Alabama and Florida for the second consecutive year. TCU and Boise State have had great runs, […]

There was quite a bit of shuffling at the top of the ESP this week (as always a comparison to the BCS is here). Florida dropped a spot after a rather unconvincing win over South Carolina while Alabama jumped two spots to take over at the top. Texas remained number two with TCU, Cincinnati, Boise […]

It always starts the same way. Media pundits gushing over video-game offensive and defensive statistics, touting playmakers and storylines, and predicting the winner or the next “game of the year, decade or century.” It fires up the fans. This year will be no different: it may not be Oklahoma’s unthinkable, record setting offense or USC’s […]

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 […]