Mind of Mike: Notre Dame to the rescue; SEC stays in league
The Mind of Mike is a crazy place. Here are some of my latest thoughts.
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Notre Dame helps keep the hope alive
Notre Dame is saving the 2020 football season and it shows how much power the Fighting Irish still have. How did this happen? Let’s think back to when the Big Ten and Pac-12 announced they were planning conference-only schedules and the rest of the Power Fives were rumored to be following. Where does that leave Notre Dame? In trouble, in a way, with games against USC and Arkansas gone and an ACC schedule potentially in trouble. But worry not. Notre Dame is smarter than the rest. They tapped the ACC, the conference they’ve been using (and has been using them) for the last several years and whispered in their ear: “Hey, we’ll join your little conference this year, what do you say?”
The next thing you know the ACC is welcoming Notre Dame as a full member in 2020, allowing the Irish to play for their league title and became the first conference to announce a full schedule plus an out-of-conference game to boot. And now we’re off and running. The SEC has been forced to make a move, and the rest of the Power Five have to get their butts in gear and figure things out as well. We went from fear of losing a season to massive momentum for 2020 college football. We aren’t out of the woods yet, but we have more hope now than before. And we can all thank Notre Dame.
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Winners and losers after SEC announcement
The SEC announcement of no out-of-conference games kills the annual rivalry between the following teams, and I break down who wins and who loses from this.
South Carolina vs. Clemson — Clemson would have blown their doors off so this is clearly good news for the Gamecocks and Will Muschamp. Yes they want the rivalry game as a chance to improve recruiting with an unlikely upset, but we all know that wasn’t going to happen.
Georgia vs. Georgia Tech — The Yellow Jackets would have clearly been destroyed in this game, so this is a win for Georgia Tech. Some think UGA could use the automatic win, but this season that doesn’t matter as much.
Florida vs. Florida State — The Seminoles would have lost this game and probably lost it badly, but honestly they needed this game for recruiting purposes as they are getting out-recruited in the state. But overall, this is a win for the Seminoles.
Kentucky vs. Louisville — This is a tough call because both teams are solid. I’d give the edge to Louisville, here as Kentucky has waxed them the last two times.