Tag: way too early

Notre Dame Football: Are Irish a top 10 team entering 2024?

Notre Dame a top 10 team entering 2024?

College football’s 2023 season came to an official end just last night but already we’re looking ahead to what’s in store for 2024.

Here at Fighting Irish Wire we have rather high expectations for Notre Dame.  No, we don’t think the title drought will end (hope to be wrong) but we’re on record of the bare minimum being making the College Football Playoff next year as it expands to 12 teams.

Various outlets are coming out with their “way too early” top 25’s for 2024 today and we’re keeping a watchful eye on many of those.  One that stuck out so far though was what Bill Bender of The Sporting News had to say about Notre Dame, who the outlet ranked No. 8:

“The Irish will maintain independent status in the 12-team CFP era, and this first season is an interesting test run. Duke transfer quarterback Riley Leonard is the new answer for Marcus Freeman, and sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love and receiver Jaden Greathouse are set for larger roles. Clemson receiver Beaux Collins should thrive, too. The offensive line remains solid, and SN All-Americans Xavier Watts and Howard Cross III are back for the defense. Notre Dame opens with Texas A&M and could easily be 9-0 when Florida State comes to Notre Dame Stadium on Nov. 9. Will they have the strength of schedule of their SEC and Big Ten counterparts in the hunt?”

Strength of schedule or not it’s hard to imagine a Notre Dame team that can go 11-1 not being in the top 12 by regular season’s end.  Run the table and you’re looking at a fifth seed that gets a true home game coupled with playing the lowest ranked of the four conference champions in the quarterfinals.

See how things can be shaping up in a big way for Notre Dame in 2024?

We’ve got a long way to go but just some juice to send you into the non-game-months with.

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ESPN Releases ‘Way Too Early Top 25’ for 2024 – Where is Notre Dame?

Who are your 12 teams in the playoff next year?

Welcome to the day after college football season comes to an end which may as well be better known as National Way Too Early Top 25 for Next Season Day.

I don’t say that to knock any outlet that does it because where do all of our minds go the second the national championship game ends?  Assuming we’re not fans of the team that won the title it goes to “how will next year be?”

The 2024 college football season will see major change.  The Pac 12 essentially is no-more despite Oregon State and Washington State’s best efforts.  That comes after Oregon, Washington, UCLA, and USC all bolted for the Big Ten.

Elsewhere the Big 12 (Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah) and ACC (Cal, Stanford) pick up the rest of the Pac-12 scraps with SMU leaves the AAC to also join the ACC.

Got it all?

Great.

Oh, and Oklahoma and Texas finally join the SEC as they were the two that kickstarted this whole thing, anyway.

So who will be the favorites to land in the new-look, 12-team playoff next year?

Here is how ESPN ranked their 2024 top 25 in their version of the “Way Too Early” rankings.

Oh, and make sure you don’t forget to check for where Lincoln Riley and USC check in.

Seahawks jump up to No. 4 in ‘way too early power rankings’

The Seattle Seahawks jump up to No. 4 in Touchdown Wire’s “way too early power rankings” for their Week-1 win over the Atlanta Falcons.

The Seattle Seahawks logged an impressive 38-25 win over the Atlanta Falcons to open their regular season Week 1. With the victory, Seattle jumped all the way up to No. 4 in Touchdown Wire’s “way too early NFL power rankings.”

“Those exhorting head coach Pete Carroll and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer to ‘Let Russ Cook’ got what they wanted on Sunday,” writes Doug Farrar. “Carroll got what he wanted in that safety Jamal Adams was an absolute terror in his first game with his new team after being traded for two first-round draft picks.”

“The Patriots come to Seattle next Sunday night, so there’s little time to celebrate,” Farrar continues. “But in the meantime, Watch Russ Cook!”

New England’s winning ways earned the Patriots the No. 3 spot in the “way too early” rankings making Sunday night’s matchup in primetime must-watch TV.

The Seahawks and Patriots are set to kick off on Sunday, Sept. 20 at 5:20 p.m. PT.

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Gators men’s basketball remain a 6-seed in latest Bracketology

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has the Florida Gators holding firm as a No. 6 seed, though he now has them playing in the South Region.

In the first update to his projected 2021 NCAA Tournament bracket since the NBA Draft withdrawal deadline passed, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has the Florida Gators holding firm as a No. 6 seed, though he now has them playing in the South Region.

Florida is slotted to take on San Diego State, the No. 11 seed in the South, in the first round of the tournament at the Wichita, Kan., site. If the Gators won that game, they would take on the winner of No. 3 Creighton and No. 14 Winthrop in the Round of 32.

Should UF get to the Elite Eight, there’s a decent chance it would draw No. 1-seeded Baylor in Memphis. It could also potentially see No. 4 Kentucky if it got there, as well.

The SEC has seven teams represented in total, tied for second among conferences with the ACC and behind the Big 10’s nine. Other than the Gators and the Wildcats, the SEC squads represented are No. 5 Tennessee, No. 8 LSU, No. 8 Arkansas, No. 10 Alabama and No. 10 Ole Miss.

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Gators QB Kyle Trask a first-round pick in Touchdown Wire mock draft

Touchdown Wire’s “way too early” 2021 mock draft has a projected pick near the end of the 1st round that may come as a surprise to some.

In Touchdown Wire’s “way too early” 2021 mock draft, there’s a projected pick near the end of the first round that may come as a surprise to some.

Florida redshirt senior quarterback Kyle Trask, who is coming off his first season as a starter since his freshman year of high school, was one of the top passers in the SEC in 2019. Heading into 2020, he’s receiving some offseason attention.

Touchdown Wire has him being selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at No. 28 overall, the fourth quarterback off the board behind Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence, Ohio State’s Justin Fields and North Dakota State’s Trey Lance, all of whom are slated to go in the top 10.

In 12 games in 2019, he threw for 2,941 yards and 25 touchdowns while tossing just seven interceptions. His rating of 156.09 was third in the SEC behind Joe Burrow and Tua Tagovailoa, who were both drafted in the first round in the 2020 draft in April.

Here’s the explanation for Trask’s projection.

Oh we’re getting a little spicy…

It seems with each passing draft cycle there is a quarterback that rises up boards seemingly out of nowhere. Now, with the advent of #DraftTwitter it is harder and harder to find those players, as year-round draft coverage identifies targets earlier and earlier each draft cycle. Still, no one really saw the rise of Joe Burrow last year, or Mitchell Trubisky from a few years ago.

Could Kyle Trask be that kind of passer? Perhaps. He has the arm talent, pocket movement skills and quick release that coaches want at the position. Trask also shows good manipulation with his eyes and some potential schematic diversity. We know Tom Brady wants to play until he is 45, but Bruce Arians might want to grab the quarterback of the future, and Trask could be that guy.

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Seahawks open at No. 6 in Touchdown Wire’s way-too-early power rankings

The Seattle Seahawks have landed at No. 6 in Touchdown Wire’s way-too-early NFL power rankings ahead of the 2020 regular season.

The 2019 season is barely in the books and Touchdown Wire is already looking waaaaaaaay ahead with it’s “way-too-early” NFL power rankings before free agency and April’s draft.

Seattle fans will be happy, however, to find their team starts out at No. 6 on the list.

“The freedom of going after it and scoring as many points … that’s kind of what the Chiefs do,” Russell Wilson told NBC Sports during Super Bowl Week. “They do a really good job of that – Andy Reid and [Patrick Mahomes]. They do a really good job of making plays, and they score more points than everybody else.”

Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar referenced the above quotes when diving into his rankings analysis.

“Invoking the Chiefs’ offense when Wilson works with a head coach in Pete Carroll whose philosophies regarding ball control and offensive balance are well known?” writes Farrar. “Highly interesting, to say the least. Wilson has all the talent required to run such an attack, but will his coaches let him? Given the current state of Seattle’s pass defense, Carroll should bend here and let Wilson score a few more touchdowns to make up for the ones the Legion of Whom are capable of allowing.”

The Packers, Saints, 49ers, Ravens and Chiefs all bested Seattle in the initial rankings, but as Farrar notes, it’s way too early to be crowning the champion of the 2020 season anyway.

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