<p>Well to digress from that downhill SC thread...</p>
<p>Good source saying it's Sugar instead of Rose. Rose made a deal to pass us up and avoid the rematch. We would play the winner of Ark/Fla.</p>
<p>Take it for what it's worth, it's dependable info.</p>
<p>ya... i think florida would be fun to watch..... but id rather us play arkansas so that i get to watch mcfadden (sp?)...... hes a showstoppa</p>
<p>Sugar Bowl is a great fit. After getting beaten pretty solidly by Michigan and USC, it's pretty clear that ND is a second-tier team--my ND son would callme a traitor for such a statement, but it is true! Putting us in a BCS bowl is pretty obviously a bottom line TV ratings and attendance decision...</p>
<p>That being said, no place needs the attendance and national spotlight than New Orleans. Notre Dame not only guarantees a huge TV audience, but also a huge influx of ND fans into New Orleans to catch the game. Given that NO is a very Catholic city, it seems only appropriate that a very Catholic university can help with its ongoing revival.</p>
<p>Plus, once the Domers get there, they'll open their wallets. This is definitely a university of folks who know how to have fun!</p>
<p>Go Irish!!!</p>
<p>New orleans is crazy during the sugar bowl. My kids danced in the half time show and we danced down bourbon street. It was a blast</p>
<p>"My kids danced in the half time show"</p>
<p>wow thats amazing....
they must be pretty good</p>
<p>We've got LSU in the Sugar. Let's get some talk going about this game. First up, it's basically a home game for the tigers. That sucks. LSU has two losses, one to Florida and one to Auburn.</p>
<p>Its going to be a very hectic atmoshpere... and to tell you the truth, we havent done to well in those......</p>
<p>MSU... we pulled it out but def didnt play our best
USC... Nuff said</p>
<p>Were going to have to play our best....... LSU is a solid team but has its weaknesses......</p>
<p>I'll break this game down later... got to much to do right now......... but im excited for it</p>
<p>It's a great thing, though, for New Orleans! Way I see it, with two losses as convincing as they were, we're lucky to be in any BCS bowl, and if we weren't Notre Dame with a built-in national audience, we probably wouldn't be. My son the Domer might contest that point, but he's not on this forum--guaranteed!--so I shall state it uncontested. We are lucky to be anywhere.</p>
<p>LSU is in Baton Rouge, a place nearly as torn apart by Katrina as New Orleans itself. In the aftermath of the hurricane, its population nearly doubled, taxing all of its services and infrastructure. Its crime rates soared, and its schools were strained to the point of bursting. It may not have been the city in the spotlight, but it, too, has been severely tested and challenged by Katrina.</p>
<p>So we have the bastion of Catholicism playing in the most Catholic city of the south. Because of our presence, even more eyes of the nation will be on New Orleans for some reason other than broken levees, flooded ghettos and violence in the Superdome. No city needs it more.</p>
<p>ND is an underdog. It should be. We lost twice to the only very top-rated schools we played. We had a couple of victories that were awe-inspiring in their ability to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat; the great comebacks of Michigan State and UCLA came only after we'd nearly blown it. Any team that can come back, though, from a 17-point road deficit against such a perennial rival as Michigan State, despite the horrific weather; any team that can pull one out, despite being stuffed at 4th and 2 with only a few minutes and no timeouts to go--that's a team you gotta love!</p>
<p>And LSU, with everything the people of Louisiana have endured, and the city of Baton Rouge has endured--how can America not root for them as well?</p>
<p>This game has no losers. New Orleans is the big winner.</p>
<p>New Orleans is the biggest underdog of all!</p>
<p>So when the fans from LSU converge upon the Big Easy, along with fans from ND from across the nation, and revel and party, and stay in newly refurbished hotels and spend lots and lots of money in the process...a good thing is happening. No matter what the score.</p>
<p>That being said, I hope we kick their butts. I think we can. Brady and Jeff deserve it! Charlie, too!</p>
<p>I am terrified of LSU's team speed on both sides of the ball. Sure, we'll score our token points probably, but I don't see how the defense can stop LSU on offense. We always struggle with strong-armed quarterbacks who can run, and LSU's JaMarcus Russell fits that description to a tee. Unfortunately, while I want ND, I am going to say:</p>
<p>LSU 35
ND 24</p>
<p>Brady Quinn didn't get the national title or the Heimsann, but I have a hunch he and his teammates will get the first ND bowl win in the past 8 years.</p>
<p>Our defense has shown itself capable of stepping up when it absolutely needs to at times. This is the biggest one of those times.</p>
<p>Irish in a close, very high-scoring, game.</p>
<p>If we base it on sheer guts and determination:</p>
<p>Irish by a nose.</p>
<p>My son, who spends wayyyyy more time following college football stats than I could ever imagine, says the guys in his dorm, equally obsessed, all agree that LSU has the most talent of anyone besides Ohio State. But, in his words, "there coach is a moron." Charlie is going to do a different routine of practicing and a different emphasis. Bottom line, in his assessment--which I trust, because, as noted, he spends wayyy too much time following this stuff---LSU will be favored by at least a touchdown, maybe two. Irish have a chance to win it, if coaching edge outweighs the talent gap by enough. </p>
<p>Stupidity in coaching is always a plus in a bowl opponent, I'd think...</p>
<p>their defense is 3rd nationally....</p>
<p>they will have more speed on defense than michigan or USC combined.....</p>
<p>I believe they have a greater chance of beating OSU than Florida ( and yes i do know that LSU lost to Florida)</p>
<p>DD is correct when she says that the tigers will be favored.... Im expecting atleast 10 points maybe even 14 since its in LA......</p>
<p>The way our defense has played and the fact that we cant catch the ball....... and the fact that we dont play to well after long periods of time (GT)........</p>
<p>On the contrary DD...... it wil not be a high scoring game... lsu's defene is amazing AMAZING ........ </p>
<p>I love Notre Dame... I love the team (except mcknight) lol.. he needs to leanr how to catch teh ball..................Papa Charlie is balla...... but </p>
<p>LSU 21
ND 3</p>
<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f06gPCnGyzg%5B/url%5D">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f06gPCnGyzg</a></p>
<p>Our defense just has to not suck, we need our offensive line to block and special teams really needs to not suck (yes I'm talking to you Goia). And Brady needs to throw for 400 yards. Then we will win.</p>
<p>LSU is probably playing the best football of anyone in the nation right now with the exception of Ohio State. They got booted out of the rose bowl because the improbable happened and neither usc or michigan are playing for the national title. I am the biggest ND fan on Earth and have been on their bandwagon all year, but I am going to have to take LSU by a couple of TDs...</p>
<p>I always pick ND, I say by 3 in the sugar bowl. I'll break it down later.</p>