It is amazing how the outlook of a season can change after a huge win over a ranked opponent. After early season disappointing losses and underwhelming victories, Notre Dame played it's best game against an Arizona State team that may be the best in the PAC 12 South. And while a return to the BCS Title game seems like a pipe dream, a trip to a BCS Bowl is surprisingly not of the question.
Notre Dame is 4-2 meaning that it can finish 10-2. I think a 10-2 Notre Dame team makes it to the BCS. It would make us look good if Oklahoma wins the Big 12 and if Arizona State can at least go to the PAC 12 title game. The Sooners do seem to be the team to beat in the Big 12, but the Sun Devils will fight it out with UCLA for their division. Winning the conference altogether would be even better for the Irish but I am not sure the Sun Devils can beat Oregon.
If one of the two Michigan teams can make it to the Big 10 Championship, that would help too.
But what those other teams do is irrelevant if Notre Dame does not win out. While that may seem hard, the tough part of the Irish schedule is done up until Stanford. After the bye Notre Dame has a series of teams it should beat heading into Stanford.
USC
While this is the arch-rival and we never want to take them lightly, this is not a good USC team. They opened the season by struggling against Hawaii who has not won a game yet. Then they lose to perennial PAC 12 doormat Washington State. USC was better against Boston College but we all know they are very mediocre. Then they barely beat Utah State from the Mountain West before giving up 62 points to the team we just beat. Not only did their coach get fired but Marqise Lee suffered a knee injury and his status for the future is still uncertain. I, like all Irish fans, will be very curious to see how they react to everything on Thursday against Arizona. Regardless, this is a game Notre Dame should win.
Air Force
Next up is a trip to Air Force and Notre Dame has absolutely no excuse for not dominating this one. Not only are the Falcons a 1-5 team but they play a level of competition in the Mountain West that is clearly inferior to Notre Dame's competition.
Navy
The Fighting Irish then come back home to face another long standing traditional rival in Navy. Although Navy is 3-1, they have not and do not play the same level of competition Notre Dame does. This should be an easy win.
Pittsburgh
Next is a trip to Pittsburgh. It seems that no matter what Pittsburgh record is, they always give Notre Dame a hard time. This year should be no exception. The Panthers started this season in a rough fashion by getting blown out to Florida State. Since they responded with three straight wins. However, it was against New Mexico, Duke, and Virginia (not exactly top competition). I am curious to see how they play against Virginia Tech this weekend. We will have a better idea of how good they are. Having said that, if Notre plays like it did against ASU, this is a victory.
BYU
Next is Senior Day against BYU. Talk about a hard team to figure out. The Cougars start the year by losing to a very mediocre team only to blow out Texas the next week. The week after they lost to Utah. Talk about inconsistency. The Cougars then got two wins over mid majot opponents Middle Tennessee and Utah State. You never know what team will show up but you can assume they bring their best to South Bend. Having said that, this will be the last time going under the tunnel for the Irish Seniors. They want to make it memorable.
These games all lead up to this.
Stanford
This is where the BCS dream could end. While 10-2 will certainly get them in to the BCS, I doubt 9-3 would. In order for Notre Dame to win this one, they will have to play the game of lives. They have to be better than they were against the Sun Devils. A long winning streak could give them that confidence. However, none of this matters if the Fighting Irish lose to even one of those other opponents. The fact is Stanford is a long way away as is the BCS. It is attainable looking ahead, but the only way is to take it one game at a time.
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