[BostonCard]

Right.  Especially if the Pac-12 continues to have a down reputation, and we stumble somewhere, a 1-loss team from the Pac-12 with a win over ND has a better case for the playoff than 1-loss teams from other conferences.  Of course, you have to balance that against the possibility that the game against ND gives us a second loss that we wouldn't have had playing a more benign schedule.

That being said, I think despite the team's continued excellence, I think the teams of 2010 - 2015 (excepting 2014) might have been a bit of an anomaly that may be hard to replicate again in the near future.  I am hoping I am wrong, but I am not seeing a lot of 10+ win teams (particularly 12 or 13 win teams) over the next decade.

BC

[BostonCard]

Right.  Especially if the Pac-12 continues to have a down reputation, and we stumble somewhere, a 1-loss team from the Pac-12 with a win over ND has a better case for the playoff than 1-loss teams from other conferences.  Of course, you have to balance that against the possibility that the game against ND gives us a second loss that we wouldn't have had playing a more benign schedule.

That being said, I think despite the team's continued excellence, I think the teams of 2010 - 2015 (excepting 2014) might have been a bit of an anomaly that may be hard to replicate again in the near future.  I am hoping I am wrong, but I am not seeing a lot of 10+ win teams (particularly 12 or 13 win teams) over the next decade.

BC