2020 Best Game Tournament – Syndication Server

Notre Dame: Fighting Irish Wire Daily/Weekend Recap (Edition 3)

Miss any Notre Dame news over the weekend? Catch up with the latest on all of it right here, right now!

In case you missed anything that happened with Notre Dame athletics this weekend then you’ve come to the right place as we recap you as quickly as possible right here.

There were no actual games played but the Notre Dame Athletics Page on YouTube live-streamed a replay of the 1993 win over Florida State while some heroes from that day offered commentary. It brought back some great memories which I shared here. If you’re interested, Notre Dame has released the entire 1993 home season as well, so if you’re bored just pull up this site and whatever you do, just make sure you don’t click on the Boston College game.

Is it still “too early” to give your pre-season rankings? We found one outlet who officially declared it “Not Too Early” so we examined them, their formula and were surprised by how far another mid-west team ranked ahead of everyone else.

There was some recruiting news of note over the weekend as a pair of players included Notre Dame in their lists after making cuts of perspective schools. Brock Bowers and Dont’e Thornton both did just that, click their names to learn more about each. In basketball, a key transfer has Notre Dame on his remaining schools list after cutting things down on Friday.

Rivals updated their rankings for the 2022 class over the weekend and you can check out where some Notre Dame targets rank in those.

And finally for fun – our inagural FIW Tournament has come and gone as we’ve crowned the best Notre Dame football game since 1986. The winner isn’t a surprise but the guy you see throw out the first pitch in the video included may be.

Plenty to come on Monday so keep checking out FIW throughout the day. I hope everyone had a great weekend.

FIW Tournament Championship: Notre Dame vs. Miami in ’88 Rolls as Expected

In the finals it was a match-up we were all expecting to see and despite even getting the publicity of Notre Dame’s Athletic Department replaying the game this weekend, it wasn’t enough for the 1993 Florida State game to even put up a fight as “Catholics vs. Convicts” won going away.

That’ll do it for our first tournament on Fighting Irish Wire. Sometimes tournaments that are single elimination allow for some classic moments and great upsets, other times a powerhouse destroys everything in it’s path, blowing out every taker-on in it’s way.

That’s exactly what happened in our inaugural Fighting Irish Wire Tournament to decide the best Notre Dame game since Lou Holtz took over in 1986.

[polldaddy poll=10530969]

There is talk from some writers for this very website to do our own live watch party for this game at some point in the not-so distant future so we’ll save showing a replay of it here. However, enjoy the intro from that day, complete with Jim Nantz doing studio work and Harry Caray throwing out a first pitch before Notre Dame and Miami met in baseball the night before.

Spoiler alert: the football team wasn’t the only Irish team to pull an upset that weekend!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqVzlqvSVz4&w=560&h=315]

What is crazy to me is that as classic as this game was, one of the most famous in the history of college football, is that it wasn’t even the most-memorable thing to happen in the sports world that day, October 15, 1988.

That belongs to Kirk Gibson, whether you’re a Los Angeles Dodgers fan or not.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4nwMDZYXTI&w=560&h=315]

Thanks for participating and playing along the last few weeks in our tournament. Hopefully it got you to think a little bit and take a trip down memory-lane.

FIW Tournament 2020: Final Four Set After Two Upsets

Will it be the top two seeds meeting in the championship? Our final four is set, take a look and make your votes now.

We’ve reached the end of the road, the Final Four has been determined by you, the Fighting Irish Wire viewers. The tournament was all chalk through three rounds with only one and two seeds remaining in the Elite Eight. Well, we’ve reached the Final Four and a pair of those one seeds won’t be joining us in it.

Your Elite Eight Results:

Basilica Region:

It’s one of the greatest games in all of college football history, not just Notre Dame football history so it should be no surprise whatsoever that Notre Dame’s 31-30 win over Miami in 1988 rolled its way through the Basilica Regional. The classic 1988 affair again dominated in the regional final as it knocked out the second seeded Sugar Bowl upset of Florida from the 1991 season, 95-5%.

We figured it’d be tough to slow down but we thought maybe there were some Jerome Bettis die-hards out there that would have voted for upsetting Spurrier. Nope, not the case.

Grotto Region:

In the Final Four it will be the ’88 Miami game facing a two-seed as it was the 1992 Penn State game getting by the ’89 team’s Orange Bowl upset of top-ranked Colorado, 58-42%.

Which game meant more? Beating and ruining a team’s chances at a national championship in the Orange Bowl is about as big as anything short of winning your own title – or so we thought.

There is something about doing it on your home field, in snowy conditions and all of it happening in the final home game in the career of Jerome Bettis, Reggie Brooks and Rick Mirer. Now factor in the how, a last-second comeback over a team that had won a pair of national titles themselves in the decade previous and stacked with future NFL players.

The upset in the Orange Bowl was great, but somehow South Beach just doesn’t hold a candle to a snowy November day in South Bend.

At least not in this case.

Other side of the bracket results…

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Notre Dame Greatest Game Tournament – Final Day of Elite Eight Voting

Last call for voting in the Elite Eight of the greatest games tournament is here. Check it out and get your votes in. Will any 1 seed fall?

We’re into the closing minutes (hours, actually) of the Elite Eight round in the 2020 Fighting Irish Wire Tournament. In determining the greatest Notre Dame football games since 1986 we’ve gone from 64 to eight and will be into our Final Four later tonight.

Thoughts on the tournament so far?

Mine are that the seeding committee did too good of a job to date. With eight “teams” remaining, all are the 1 and 2-seeds in their respective regions. Sure we’ve seen a few upsets but there is no Cinderella in the round of eight.

So who moves on? That’s up to you and you have until 10 p.m. ET Monday night to get it done. Vote here for the Elite Eight match-ups:

Basilica Regional Final:
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Grotto Regional Final:
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Hesburgh Regional Final:
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Golden Dome Regional Final:
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Voting will close again at 10 p.m. ET and we’ll know our Final Four then. Based off the time of posting (just after 3 p.m. ET) we already seem to know one of your regional winners as ’88 Miami has a 97-3% lead in voting over the Sugar Bowl upset of Florida.

Notre Dame Football: Elite Eight Voting – Golden Dome Region

The Golden Dome Regional Final finds Notre Dame’s last national championship clincher meeting up with the final regular season game that year, a 1. Notre Dame vs. 2. USC match-up. As you’re probably not surprised, 1988 remains well-represented in this as we continue to narrow things down.

We have reached the Elite Eight in determining the greatest Notre Dame football game since 1986. As we said upon selection, there were some great ones that didn’t end in Notre Dame’s favor, no doubt. We did decide make the requirement that Notre Dame did in fact need to win in order to garner consideration for a tournament berth.

Tale of the Tape:

What else is there really to say other than “Notre Dame clinched a national championship!” when they beat West Virginia to cap the 1988 season in the Fiesta Bowl. If you require more though, here you go: Notre Dame was in control for the majority, winning 34-21 and also out-gaining the Mountaineers by 173 yards. It was dominating for a title performance which to me would probably be the third or fourth most-memorable game from that season, actually.

In order to get to the Fiesta Bowl and have a national championship shot though, Notre Dame had to finish the regular season unbeaten. To do that the No. 1 Fighting Irish had to go to No. 2 USC and take care of business against Rodney Peete and the Trojans. They had to do so without Ricky Watters or Tony Brooks who were sent home for missing team dinner Friday night. Notre Dame lost everywhere that day except the scoreboard and turnover battle. On just eight first downs and 253 yards (21/356 for USC), Notre Dame completed the perfect regular season with a 27-10 win in the Coliseum.

So Who Moves On – You Decide…

[polldaddy poll=10528040]

And don’t forget to vote in the other regional finals, either:

Basilica Region: ’88 Miami vs. ’91 Florida

Grotto Region: ’89 Colorado vs. ’92 Penn State

Hesburgh Region: ’93 Florida State vs. ’12 Oklahoma

Voting will close Monday evening at 10 p.m. ET so get it done now and share with your friends until then.

Notre Dame Football: Elite Eight Voting – Hesburgh Region

In the Hesburgh Regional Final we see the ’93 Florida State game meet up with what most people consider Brian Kelly’s biggest win to date at Notre Dame, the 2012 win at Oklahoma.

In the Hesburgh Region we have our third of four 1 vs. 2 match-ups to decide who goes to the Final Four. In it we get the last time Notre Dame knocked off number one, 1993’s Game of the Century that saw the Irish beat Florida State in a thriller.

In the Hesburgh Regional Final we see the ’93 Florida State game meet up with what most people consider Brian Kelly’s biggest win to date at Notre Dame, the 2012 win at Oklahoma.

Tale of the Tape:

1993 Notre Dame got off to a hot start upsetting a top-five Michigan team in September but a large chunk of the nation didn’t buy in that they could compete with Florida State’s team-speed by the time November rolled around. Not only did they compete, they physically dominated the Seminoles for the majority of the afternoon until eventual Heisman Trophy Winner Charlie Ward led Florida State on a late run that got them deep into Notre Dame territory before Shawn Wooden batted Ward’s final pass attempt away as time expired for a 31-24 win over Florida State, vaulting the Irish to number one.

2012 saw Notre Dame complete a 12-0 regular season but most of the nation still wasn’t sold on them as being anything special when they rolled into Norman, Oklahoma with a 7-0 mark in late October. The Irish entered as a 10 point underdog but quickly proved they belonged on the same field as Oklahoma with Cierre Wood breaking free for an early score. Tied at 13 in the final frame, Everett Golson found Chris Brown for huge yards to set up the go-ahead score before a Dan Fox deflection wound up intercepted by Manti Te’o to set up a 15 yard touchdown run by Theo Riddick to essentially end things and show that Notre Dame was deserving of a top-five ranking.

So who moves on? It’s up to you…

[polldaddy poll=10528036]

Also vote in the other regional final match-ups if you haven’t already:

Basilica Region: ’88 Miami vs. ’91 Florida

Grotto Region: ’89 Colorado vs. ’92 Penn State

Voting will close Monday evening at 10 p.m. ET so get it done now and share with your friends until then.

FIW Notre Dame Tournament – Grotto Regional Final Voting

Who gets the final four berth between a bowl win over the No. 1 team in the country and a last second win over a legendary program?

In the Grotto Regional Final we get an Orange Bowl win that ruined Colorado’s national championship hopes matched up with an all-time Senior Day, as Rick Mirer, Jerome Bettis and Reggie Brooks pulled off a last-second win over Penn State in the 1992 Snow Bowl.

Tale of the Tape:

1989 was another great year for Notre Dame, it just wasn’t as great as the year before. The Irish took an 11-0 record into Miami the final weekend of the year but got rolled by the Hurricanes, 27-10. Unfortunately that loss would end up being too much for Lou Holtz and company to overcome for a second-straight title, but after a slow start offensively, Notre Dame rolled to 21-6 win over No. 1 Colorado to ruin the Buffaloes title dreams as the Irish would finish the year ranked second.

1992 was another great year but a hiccup against Stanford during mid-terms week kept the title from title contention late. In what would be the final game played at Notre Dame Stadium by Jerome Bettis, Reggie Brooks and Rick Mirer, the Irish came back late against a Kerry Collins quarterbacked Penn State team, capping the victory with a two-point conversion late to seal the victory in what’s known as the Snow Bowl. The win helped send Notre Dame to the Cotton Bowl where they would dismantle Texas A&M and ultimately finish ranked fourth nationally.

So who goes to the Final Four? Time for you to decide:

[polldaddy poll=10527041]

The winner of this match-up will play the winner of ’88 Miami and ’91 Florida who are playing in the Basilica Regional Final.

FIW Notre Dame Tournament – Basilica Regional Final Voting

In the Basilica Region we saw the top overall seed, ’88 Miami roll into the Elite Eight with a destruction of the ’93 Michigan game. That game will meet Notre Dame’s upset win over No. 3 Florida to cap the 1991 season in the Sugar Bowl.

Tale of the Tape:

The Catholics vs. Convicts is an iconic sports t-shirt that became what this game was as known for as anything. An upstart Notre Dame team in Lou Holtz’s third season ended with a Notre Dame win over defending champion Miami that had everything from a pre-game fight between the teams, Holtz wanting to kick Jimmy Johnson’s butt and a slew of turnovers that led to the last-second win and led to Notre Dame’s 1988 National Championship.

The 1991 season started with the Irish going 8-1 before stumbling late against Tennessee and at Penn State. Notre Dame ultimately finished the regular season 9-3 after winning at Hawaii yet earned a berth in the Sugar Bowl, much to the chagrin of the nation. Holtz claimed before the game that a stranger asked him the difference between Cheerios and Notre Dame and told him that “Cheerios belong in a bowl.” Notre Dame, led by three Jerome Bettis second half touchdowns pulled the upset over No. 3 Florida in what remains the only ever meeting between the two programs.

So which upset win over a Florida based school do you have moving on to the Final Four?

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The winner will meet the winner of ’89 Colorado and ’92 Penn State who are meeting in the Grotto Regional Final.

2020 FIW Tournament – Sweet 16 Completed – Who Moves on?

So here they are, your Sweet 16 results in the Fighting Irish Wire Tournament.

The debut tournament here at Fighting Irish Wire has moved on to the Elite Eight and without spoiling the results, let me just say what a tremendous job the selection committee did. Think they know a thing or two about the history of Notre Dame football? Clearly you do because your votes reflected their thinking a couple weeks back.

(@nickshepkowski and @jf_fey on Twitter if you’re looking for a few folks to follow 😉

So here they are, your Sweet 16 results in the Fighting Irish Wire Tournament.

Basilica Region:

’88 Miami rocked ’93 Michigan like a hurricane, 97-3%. Frankly, we’re a bit surprised it was even that close. Catholics vs. Convicts now meets up with the Sugar Bowl win over Florida to end 1991 as the “Cheerios Bowl” escaped with the closest win in round-three, a 57-43 victory over ’18 Michigan.

Grotto Region:

The 1989 season ended with Notre Dame knocking off No. 1 Colorado in the Orange Bowl and ruining the title dreams of the Buffaloes. Notre Dame’s last Orange Bowl win moved on with a 67-33 win over the ’17 destruction of USC. The second-seeded “Snow Bowl” over Penn State in ’92 moved on as well as it won nearly 80% of the votes against the ’02 thriller at Michigan State.

Hesburgh Region:

Many think the only game that could potentially play with Catholics vs. Convicts is the ’93 win over Florida State. The ’93 version of “The Game of the Century” rolled in round-three, a 93-7 winner over ’02 Florida State. It meets ’12 Oklahoma who won easily over ’12 Michigan, 82-18.

Golden Dome Region:

The ’88 team concluded with a Fiesta Bowl win over West Virginia that clinched the title. That victory understandably rolled the ’88 opener, an escape over Michigan, 75-25. On the bottom part of the Golden Dome region it was the ’88 regular season finale beating up the ’06 comeback against UCLA, 78-22.

The eight remaining contests now fight for their chance to reach the Final Four. Voting starts Thursday night and will go through Sunday.

2020 FIW Tournament: Sweet 16 Voting is Open! (Best Notre Dame Game Since ’86)

We are in the Sweet 16 round of the tournament to decide Notre Dame’s best football game since 1986. Are any of the favorites on upset-alert this round?

And here we are, just 16 entries remaining as we continue our tournament at Fighting Irish Wire to determine the best Notre Dame football game (had to be a win) since Lou Holtz began his run in 1986.

Through two rounds we’ve seen mostly chalk with a couple of exceptions:

The sixth seeded 2002 Michigan State is alive in the Grotto Region while fellow-six seed 2006 UCLA remains alive in the Golden Dome Region.

11th seeded 2012 Michigan is still alive in the Hesburgh Region as it enters the Sweet 16 as the lowest remaining seed in the entire tournament.

All four one and two seeds remain as do three of the four, three seeds. Can any of these Cinderella’s continue their runs to the Elite Eight? Now is your chance to decide – voting will be open until Wednesday evening:

CLICK NEXT TO VOTE

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