re: As a lifelong LSU fan and former ND student…

Without this playoff format this ND team would have never sniffed the championship game. They lost at home to NIU



You can’t compare what Kelly did at ND to what freeman is doing. Not the same

If freeman wins it all we have a discussion. It at this point he has done nothing over what Kelly did and Kelly did it from a broken start. Freeman took over a team that was loaded and won 11 games

I don't get this sentiment. NCAA is as open as it has ever been. There's an insane amount of parity in it right now. Nobody dominates. Anyone can get to the NC game it has so much parity. With LSU absolutely tearing the portal up and having a very talented freshman class coming alongside what we have from the previous 2 seasons LSU has as good a chance as anyone even if you think BK isn't good enough.


LSU realistically should have one of the most talented teams in the country next year with a QB who's capable of being heisman candidate if he takes the next step. We're in better position than 99% of the NCAA. Anyone who thinks BK is worse than Orgeron as a coach who won it all is ignorant. He has his flaws and I question many things he does but his record speaks for itself.

I dont believe you

Apples to oranges. Freeman just won the Sugar and Orange Bowls in a span of 7 days to get to the title game. Kelly could only dream of doing that.

What Freeman is doing is far more impressive than anything than Kelly has done.

He beat Indiana, UGA without 23-2 starter at QB, who threw for over 7,000 yards, 60 TD’s and 69% completion rate and HC with dad on death bed, then beat Penn State who beat no one and has easy road to semis with a coach that is 1-18 lifetime vs top 5 - LOL - you people are idiots

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It sucks to me that ND looks like they finally turned the corner with Kelly gone

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Laxing the GPA requirements on recruits and participating in NIL will do that. Freeman is a good coach and seems like a really good dude, but let's not pretend that when Kelly was coach at ND you had the ability to recruit with the SEC. The portal and NIL has changed everything so it's hard to compare periods.

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In my four years at ND (2018-2022), it felt like ND was always in the hunt but never truly built to contend.

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You weren't. 2018 was Trevor Lawrence and Clemson going 15-0 and crushing both ND and Bama enroute to the Natty. 2019 LSU was the greatest college team of all time. 2020 was COVID so who cares, but Bama was a behemoth that year since no one from their team opted out. 2021 and 2022 was UGA in it's recent prime. There was no portal or NIL to pull talent up north.

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Now I’m watching ND finally make it back to the biggest stage in football and LSU lives in the same “good but not great” land that I’m so used to seeing ND live in. It makes me wonder…

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Freeman's first game coaching was the Sugar Bowl of the 2021-22 season with an 11-1 team that Kelly left him. ND's final ranking for 2021 was #8, 2020 was #4, 2019 was #12, 2018 was #5, and 2017 was #11. Meanwhile Kelly took over a program that in 2020 went 5-5 and in 2021 went 6-7 while playing a top 15 strength of schedule every year. There's nothing to wonder about. Freeman walked into as good a spot as you could ask for for a first time head coach. He didn't have to build anything. He had to sustain it and try to tweak it and improve if possible.

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Does he know how go lay the foundation of a program but struggle to build a true behemoth?

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We'll find out. The whole landscape of CFB has changed in the past 2 years and every team is learning on the fly. That said, I wouldn't call ND a behemoth. They are doing the same thing they did under Kelly. Playing a weaker schedule than those teams in the B1G and SEC, losing a game or two and when the schedule hits right, win the games that you can and make a run until you hit the buzzsaw. The difference now is there is no behemoth in CFB this year. There's no prime UGA or Bama sitting there. Maybe Ohio State these past couple games are as close to those as there is this year, but there is no all-time great team argument for any of the teams this year like there was in 2019 and some would say 2020.

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How has Marcus Freeman (who’s introductory press conference I attended with the band and remember thinking “hope our backup hiring option turns out to be good”) had so much success and so many big wins in year 3 than BK has had in like, the last decade?

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If we're being honest. A lot has to do with luck of the draw. The highest ranked wins for ND this year in the regular season was Louisville, Army, and Navy. That should tell you all you need to know about their path. aTm looked promising but wasn't great this year. USC was a .500 team and FSU absolutely shite the bed this year. It's not ND's fault. It' just how the season played out. Couple that with a playoff run that included Indiana, UGA without their starting QB, and Penn State, and I think it's safe to say that every scheduling break that could happen to aid ND enroute to the title game came to fruition.

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The ND half of me is thankful LSU took away our Brian Kelly handicap, and the LSU half of me is frustrated beyond belief that we’re stuck looking like last decade ND

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LSU is still rebuilding. It's been delayed as we are figuring out the new landscape with NIL and the portal, but if you were here 4 years ago when our shining moment of the season was Kirkland's walk-off TD to Hilton in a 21-point loss, then you would understand that there is nothing to be upset about with regard to the LSU program. We are heading the direction we are supposed to when rebuilding. We needed adults in the building to get the ship back on track and now it is. Once we get the player talent/depth up, we'll be in the tournament again. Now that our NIL is moving, I expect it will be soon.

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He proved he didn't belong in any of those 3 postseason games, his soft teams losing 30-3, 42-14 and 31-14

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There is no comparison to what Kelly faced to what ND has faced so far. Damn yall are dumbasses lol it’s like talking to children.

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BK served under Jack Swarbrick, who refused to spend any money on football. BK begged for years for money for coaches for recruiting for facilities.

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So what was the athletic donor money spent on? I thought Notre Dame had a solid donor base that contributed just like the other major P4s.

LSU, the university itself, doesn’t spend money on football either these days. They spend donor/TAF money on football.

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couldn’t win a single ny6 bowl and Freeman just won two in the last week.

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Let's take a look at his losses:

Cincinatti
2008 - Orange Bowl - Loss #12 Cincinatti (11-2) vs #19 Va Tech (9-4). Spread was Cincinatti -2.

Notre Dame
2012 - BCS National Championship - Loss #1 Notre Dame (12-0) vs #2 Alabama (12-1). Spread was Alabama -9.5

2015 - Fiesta Bowl - Loss #8 Notre Dame (10-2) vs #7 OSU (11-1). Spread was OSU -7.

2018 - Cotton Bowl (CFP) - Loss - #3 Notre Dame (12-0) vs #2 Clemson (13-0). Spread was Clemson -11.5.

2020 - Rose Bowl (CFP) - Loss - #4 Notre Dame vs #1 Alabama. Spread was Alabama -20.

Here are Freeman's wins:

CFP Round 1 - Win - #5 Notre Dame ( 11-1) vs #8 Indiana (11-1). Spread was Notre Dame -6.5.

CFP Round 2 - Win - #5 Notre Dame (11-1) vs #2 UGA (11-2 w/o QB1) - Spread was Notre Dame -1.5.

CFP Semi - Win - #5 Notre Dame (11-1) vs #4 PSU (11-2) - Spread was PSU -1.5.

I think ND's success bothers CBK more than any of us realize and that's why he's attacked the portal like a coach possessed. He has something to prove and the only way to justify what, and why he publically came here on full display is with a Natty.