Tag: Big Game Boomer

Notre Dame on list of fan bases that don’t care for college basketball

Do you care for Irish hoops?

It’s no secret the past couple of years have been rough for Notre Dame basketball fans. The Irish vastly underachieved last year, and a new roster and coaching staff this year meant the program had to start from scratch. That doesn’t exactly draw interest from fans.

Whatever the reason though, Irish fans simply don’t care about college basketball. At least that’s the opinion of Big Game Boomer, a college list aficionado on social media who decided to include Notre Dame among a group of college fan bases that allegedly could care less about college hoops:

First of all, Irish basketball fans haven’t had much to cheer about over the past few years. Secondly, while football rules supreme at Notre Dame and always will, that doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t care about the second-most popular sport at the college level. Finally, Purcell Pavilion is about two-thirds full for an average game just as it was a year ago.

It really makes you wonder what criteria Big Game Boomer used to create this list. Then again, maybe this shouldn’t be taken seriously. After all, this is the same person who thinks MLB, the NFL and, yes, the NHL all need teams in Honolulu.

Whatever. Irish fans will support the basketball team in droves when it’s really good again. We just need to be patient. The time will come.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Notre Dame left out of Twitter user’s Big Brother-Little Brother chart

Should the Irish have been on this chart?

Notre Dame’s independence is a major part of what makes it unique. The drawback to that is except for USC, Navy and Stanford, no annual rivalries are played. That means none within the state of Indiana. Perhaps it was for that reason that the Irish were left out of Twitter college list aficionado Big Game Boomer’s chart listing the “Big Brother” program and “Little Brother” program in all 50 states, if applicable:

The Irish and Boilermakers will play each other five consecutive years between 2024 and 2028. They have a home-and-home scheduled with the Hoosiers in 2030 and 2031. However, neither program is facing each other this year, which possibly factored into the Irish being snubbed. Bur perhaps the biggest factor is that the Irish aren’t conference rivals with either program.

If the Irish join the Big Ten in the future for whatever reason, perhaps we can revisit this list. Until then, that appears out of the question. Oh well. At least the Irish are supposed to have a better year than both programs.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Marcus Freeman fourth on list of coaches most likely to win in a fight

Don’t mess with him.

Fighting in sports seems to be on a lot of people’s brains lately. Those of us in the Chicago area who regrettably cheer for the struggling White Sox still are reeling from Jose Ramirez knocking down Tim Anderson recently. The memes and shade that came from it are another chapter in a season no one in the fan base wants to remember.

This may or may not be related to the latest list from Big Game Boomer, social media’s college football chart and list aficionado. He decided to list college football’s top 50 coaches who would win in a fight, and [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] was ranked fourth:

Hopefully, we don’t have to see Freeman fight anybody as it would give Notre Dame some unwanted attention and subject it to ridicule. But the 6-foot-1 coach’s playing weight as an Ohio State linebacker was 240 pounds. That is not a build anyone in their right mind wants to mess with.

So if you happen to see Freeman somewhere, don’t say or do anything to make him test what he truly is capable of. You’re going to have a really bad time if you do. No one wants to be the next Tim Anderson right now.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Big Game Boomer: Notre Dame biggest college brand in…Illinois?

Not sure we agree with this.

It’s no secret that a large portion of Notre Dame’s fan base is in the Chicago area. That’s reflected by the fact that every writer on this site is based there. But is that reflective of the state of Illinois as a whole?

Big Game Boomer, a top college sports list and graph aficionado on social media, has been mentioned on here many times before. His latest entry as of this writing is a U.S. map that lists the biggest college brand by state. Notre Dame is listed for Illinois and the only school not located in the state it represents:

Inevitably, someone asked about this, and he was quick to respond:

And when asked why Indiana doesn’t have Notre Dame, he said this:

The first event I covered on location for this site was the now-defunct Crossroads Classic in Indianapolis. Even though the Irish were the designated home team, the crowd at Bankers Life Fieldhouse was heavily for the Hoosiers. So the statement about the Hoosiers owning the Hoosier State is not wrong.

Still, as nice as it is to see Notre Dame represented on this map, it’s hard to call it the best college brand in the Land of Lincoln. Sure, Northern Illinois is too small for consideration, and everyone is distancing themselves from Northwestern right now, but what about Illinois? While the Illini football program has done little to help the brand lately, it’s a little unfair to discount those fans.

Anyone who lives in Illinois knows that the further south you go, the more you’ll find people who don’t care for Chicago. I won’t go into the reasons for that here, but this is one case where Chicago probably shouldn’t represent the whole state.

Illini fans reign supreme throughout Illinois, and one merely needs to travel throughout to find them. They are proud, and they are passionate about their team. Many of them still are mourning the loss of Chief Illiniwek as an official university symbol.

So as nice as it is to have Notre Dame as Illinois’ representative on this map, it really should be a school from Illinois. And Illini fans probably are most deserving to represent the state. After all, Chicago is a pro sports town first, so it should not be taken into account when making a map like this. Consider the rest of the state please next time, Big Game Boomer.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Top ACC players Notre Dame will be playing in 2023

Keep your eye on these players when the Irish face them.

In exchange for retaining its football independence, Notre Dame plays a certain number of ACC opponents every season. The only other sport in which Notre Dame is not an ACC member is hockey, which plays in the Big Ten. While old-school Irish fans might long for the days of the program being able to schedule almost anyone at anytime, some often forget that this arrangement means some thrilling football. The home wins over recent powerhouse Clemson in 2020 and 2022 are two examples.

College football isn’t back yet, but you still can look at the rosters and see which quality players play for whom. Twitter’s Big Game Boomer has done just that and come up with a list of the top 50 ACC players for the upcoming season. When you look at the list, you’ll see the Irish have many of them set to face them. Let’s see who the Irish are playing when you take away the players whose teams aren’t on their schedule:

Twitter user: Quarterback is Notre Dame’s biggest strength in 2023

Does this surprise you?

Every team has a strength that stands out above the rest. With training camp still a month away, fans have plenty of time to look up and down every roster and identify that strength. Not the least of those fans is Big Game Boomer, Twitter’s college sports list aficionado. He released a list of the biggest position of strength for every Football Bowl Subdivision team, and what he came up with for Notre Dame may or may not surprise you:

We could talk about every Irish quarterback to drive this point home, but we all know this has everything to do with [autotag]Sam Hartman[/autotag]. Had he played for the Irish in 2021, he would have set the single-season program records for passing yards (4,228), completions (299) and touchdown passes (39). Irish fans have every right to be excited about the Wake Forest transfer, and everyone will be watching to see how he does on a bigger stage. There’s little reason to think he’ll do poorly, so keep the faith up.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Running back duo ranked in top 10 by Big Game Boomer

The Wisconsin Badgers are set for their first full season with Luke Fickell at head coach in 2023 and their running backs are as good as any.

The Wisconsin Badgers are set for their first full season with Luke Fickell at head coach in 2023 and their running backs are as good as any. Big Game Boomer ranked his top 50 RB duos in college football, placing the Badgers’ duo of Braelon Allen and Chez Mellusi as the seventh best pair.

In 2022, Allen produced 1,242 yards and 11 touchdowns on 230 carries over 12 games while Mellusi added 473 yards and two scores over nine contests. The two athletes will be entering their third campaign as backfield mates and will look to continue their strong production.

Overall, Allen and Mellusi were the fourth highest ranked duo in the Big Ten, sitting behind Michigan (1st overall, Corum and Edwards), Ohio State (2nd overall, Henderson and Williams) and Penn State (4th overall, Singleton and Allen).

Wisconsin versus Minnesota rivalry ranked in top 25 best in CFB

As the 2023 college football season is on the horizon, Big Game Boomer ranked his top 50 rivalry game names across the Division 1 landscape.

As the 2023 college football season is on the horizon, Big Game Boomer ranked his top 50 rivalry game names across the Division 1 landscape. “The Axe Game” between Wisconsin and Minnesota came in at 21st overall.

The Badgers and Gophers always meet for the final game of the regular season and Minnesota won 23-16 in the 2022 matchup in Madison. In 2023, the two teams will meet Nov. 25 at Minnesota.

All-time, the two teams are tied with a 62-62-8 record, but Wisconsin leads the series 45-27-3 since the creation of Paul Bunyan’s Axe (the series’ trophy) in 1948.

Luke Fickell and his squad will look to continue the winning standard Wisconsin has developed over their rival.

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Badgers boast one of top 10 LB coaches in country

Big Game Boomer ranked his top 50 college football linebacker coaches and released his list Thursday. A new Badger was in the top 10.

Big Game Boomer ranked his top 50 college football linebacker coaches and released his list Thursday. One of the Badgers’ new additions in 2023 was ranked in the top 10.

New defensive coordinator and linebacker coach Mike Tressel came in at ninth overall on the list. Tressel spent the last two seasons as the DC/LB coach with Luke Fickell in Cincinnati and joined Wisconsin with Fickell this past offseason.

Now with the Badgers, Tressel will look to elevate the play of talented linebackers Maema Njongmeta and Jordan Turner, amongst others. There are a handful of former Bearcat linebackers in the NFL now, including Myjai Sanders (ARI) and Darrian Beavers (NYG).

Badger football fans ranked average for overall passion in Big Ten

Badger fans may not like this one, but Big Game Boomer ranked each of the Big Ten fan bases by level of passion, rating them in the middle.

Badger football fans may not like this one, but Big Game Boomer ranked each of the Big Ten fan bases by level of passion Tuesday and left Wisconsin fans near the middle. Badger fans came in seventh.

Once again, Big Game Boomer is off base with this one. Sure, Nebraska “sells out” every one of its football games, but few fan bases go to bat for their team like the Badgers’ do.

Yes, the 2022 season was a down year for Wisconsin, but the hype leading up to the 2023 campaign has proven fans are as passionate as ever. I’ll give Boomer the benefit of the doubt in his ranking of Ohio State and Penn State above Wisconsin, because there is nothing else to do in those college towns! (Especially State College)

Considering the fact there were more Badger football fans at the Las Vegas Bowl than Arizona State fans in 2021 and there were more Wisconsin fans in Arizona for the Guaranteed Rate Bowl than there were Oklahoma State fans this past December, Badger fans love their team!

At least the Badgers ranked third among the Big Ten West schools and after Wisconsin has an extremely successful season in 2023 (prediction), Boomer will have to reconsider what fan bases are the most passionate.

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