This Year’s Absurd Notre Dame Prediciton

Oh yea, Notre Dame fans! Time to lather up in your BCS oil and get weird with your Irish buddies. Crack open that bottle of bubbly and pour it on yourself. Then drink 19 or so beers and get ready to celebrate a BCS championship win. Scratch that, multiple championship wins. Brian Kelly feels this way SO IT MUST BE TRUE.

Kelly was asked on a Michigan radio show yesterday if he would win a title while coaching at Notre Dame. His response, “More than one, Absolutely.”

I’m not going to kill a guy for having confidence in his team? I mean, is he supposed to say no? Obviously Kelly wants to rekindle some excitement with a program that desperately needs it. The obvious problem I have, however, is his unnecessary cockiness as he alludes to winning multiple championships. We could debate whether this will come true until we’re blue in the face, but one thing’s for certain. The challenges, pressure, and expectations at South Bend will be unlike anything Kelly has ever had to deal with.

The stresses of winning a Big East title will pale in comparison to having to beat Michigan State at home in October (random example, save the schedule comments). I watched Kelly tiptoe around egg shells at the Bearcats when ND rumors started popping up as Charlie Weis’ fate was secured by the middle of last season. I know he didn’t exactly pass that test with flying colors, but again, this was no easy scenario.

This issue I have with Kelly’s statement, however, is how there really isn’t anything that warrants fans to believe him. Notre Dame’s recruiting has stalled to an extent, and I can’t see the SEC and company relinquishing recruiting dominance. Notre Dame is no longer a hot spot for 5-star athletes. Yes, they play on T.V., but have you seen Florida’s T.V. schedule this year? Let’s just say you’ll be seeing plenty of angry Urban Meyer shots in more meaningful games, versus watching Notre Dame edge Purdue late in the 4th quarter (again, don’t judge me, bros).

Notre Dame still plays a brutal schedule – which lightens mildly in 2010 – that makes getting to a championship game difficult. At-large bowl bids are a different story because of the overwhelming fandom and money at stake. While most ND fans would absolutely take a BCS game appearance and certainly a win, it appears that Kelly has much higher hopes. MUCH, MUCH HIGHER.

Let’s flash back a little less than a year ago when Notre Dame’s resident super-homer and ESPN analyst Lou Holtz broke code and predicited Notre Dame would win the BCS national championship. Now, I’m not saying Kelly is on the same level of absurdity, but my god it does feel close enough where we should show it again.

Please feel free to continue drinking yourself ridiculously drunk and continue chatter about how awesome it’ll be when Notre Dame win four consecutive titles.