Notre Dame’s resurgence is good for college football

With the Notre Dame football team defeat of the Boston College Eagles last weekend, the Fighting Irish are at 10-0 for the first time since 1993.

Despite Kansas State and Oregon standing ahead of the Fighting Irish in the BCS rankings, Notre Dame is in the running to win its first National Championship since 1988, when Lou Holtz was at the helm of the program.

Despite being one the most historically dominant teams in all of college football, this year’s success breaks the recent trend of Notre Dame’s fortunes.

The Fighting Irish have missed a bowl game six times since the 1993 season, and they are 2-10 in the 12 bowl games they have made.

Let’s just say it’s nice to have them back.

Usually, historical powerhouses going down is what makes sports so special and lovable.

America hates seeing the same teams win year in and year out.

It’s why March Madness is one of the country’s most beloved sporting events. It’s why everyone who’s not a Yankees fan hates the team. It’s why “Rocky” and “Hoosiers” are great movies, and stories of the 1960s Boston Celtics or John Wooden’s UCLA Bruins are best suited as documentaries.

Once the top dogs fall into the pack with the rest of sports mediocrity, it doesn’t mean nearly as much to knock off these traditional stalwarts.

Sooner or later, there comes a time when even the most die-hard of fans must look at their teams and say, “Our team is not what it used to be. We can’t keep living off the past as a justification that everything will be alright.”

Such had happened with Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish have been and are still known for having one of the most rabid fan bases in the nation.

A majority of them had still talked big to Michigan, USC and other rival schools’ fans, so much so that the resulting hatred of Notre Dame was just as annoying as the
unjustified bragging coming from South Bend, Ind., and all its supporters.

Even then, a great amount were starting to wonder whether their beloved team would ever make it back to the glory days after going 16-21 during former Coach Charlie Weis’ final three years and two good but not great seasons with Coach Brian Kelly.

This year has proven, however, that Notre Dame is back.

College football experts and opposing fans across the nation have been waiting for the Fighting Irish to make their classic slipup, which was typical during the Weiss era.

Any of his teams would have traveled to then-No. 8 Oklahoma and gotten killed or found a way to lose the pitiful game that was Notre Dame v. Michigan this year.
It appears those days are finished.

The once-powerful Notre Dame football team is back as a legitimate title contender, putting behind it a decade of futility and moving forward.

While Notre Dame haters are presumably seething about this, they need to remember only one thing — the fewer losses come, the sweeter each one will be.

Watching Notre Dame go on to beat Wake Forest but fall to USC on a final drive or in some other heartbreaking fashion to end its championship hopes would be much more satisfying for Notre Dame fans than an average 7-6 or 8-5 year.

Everybody wins in this scenario.

The longtime Notre Dame fans finally have something to cheer for, and all the haters have something real to despise.

No matter which side you’re on, Notre Dame’s relevance is good for all of college football.

­— tlstutzm@indiana.edu