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 […]

With few exceptions, the 2009 Irish offense had a very productive year. Quarterback Jimmy Clausen and wide receiver Golden Tate turned in brilliant performances and led an explosive unit that generated over 30 points per outing. But if there was an Achilles’ heel—and there was—it was red zone point production. The Irish struggled inside 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 […]

When trying to get a high school football recruit to come to Notre Dame, one of the biggest draws is the added exposure that player will receive, not only from the fans across the nation, but professional scouts as well. Storied history? Check. Historical significance? Check. Facilities that are second to none? Check. A schedule […]

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, […]

The Fighting Irish return to South Bend Saturday on the heels of their second consecutive loss and looking to avoid a second-half season meltdown. Despite the promise this squad showed early in 2009, the last handful of games have looked eerily similar to the last six games of 2008 when the Irish sputtered to a […]

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 […]

Iowa’s loss to Northwestern dropped them out of the top five in the ESP while the other top teams largely remained the same. Florida or Alabama have to lose at least one game, but—with few exceptions—the remaining top five teams have favorable schedules for the remainder of the year. For comparison purposes the BCS results […]

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 […]