<<USC, Stanford, Michigan, Mich. St, Purdue, BC, Pitt and Navy

In addition, beginning in 2009 they will look for 3 schools per year to play at South Bend with no commitment for a return game. In that way 7 home games will be assured each year.>>

I just realized how arrogant this is. ND is still going to want their national schedule. That means they will want 1 or 2 against an ACC, SEC or Big 12 member. And they will want it at home. Unless it is Vandy and Duke, its not going to happen every year. They can get 3 at home, but it will be CUSA, WAC and MWC schools. BCS schools will be rare as they want their 6 or 7 home games.

That's hilarious! Just so everyone else knows, the Pac 10 clearly has too many bowls. One source predicts they will not have enought eligible teams to fill THREE of their bowls!
http://msn.foxsports.com/story/2552048
In fairness, if either Cal or USC don't go BCS, the Pac 10 will "only" be overextended by two bowls.

Who can name the last conference to not be able to fill 3 of their bowl obligations? Who can name the last conference to not be able to fill 2 of their bowl obligation?

Don't get me wrong - I am definitely not saying the Pac 10 has 3 or 2 too many bowls. Possibly one too many, but my vote is that the status quo is ok, and actually very generous.

Fossil, I think I know what EarthX is saying, he just kind of wrote it in shorthand.

The Pac-10 definitely has numbers. The issue is quality.

#1 - BCS
#2 - Holiday v Big 12 #3
#3 - Sun v Big 10 #5
#4 - Insight v Big East #3 or #4
#5 - Las Vegas v Mountain West #2
#6 - Emerald v Mountain West #3
#7 - Silicon Valley v Fresno errrrrr a selected WAC team

For national perception, the Pac-10 could use the Gator. In all likelihood, however, the Gator probably doesn't want to sell tickets all the way across the country. Such is the Pac's lot.

Oh, if I dare further the tangent... look at that list again. The WAC would kill for a better Pac-10 bowl slot, but that's all they rate. Will someone tell me again why the Mountain West even needs to worry about expanding with schools from the WAC when the WAC already has multiple weapons pointed at it?

Noting that Jacksonville is on the other side of the country from the PAC 10 schools, there could not be an expectation that a 3rd or 4th place PAC 10 school would send many fans that far east. One hears, for example, that UCLA does not travel well to second tier bowls.
I remember when Oregon (I believe the school) was just starting their upswing some years back, they took a big loss to get an Independence Bowl bid to garner the exposure.
There is a down side to bowls being so locked in now-a-days.
The Rose Bowl and Fiesta Bowl out west have real appeal, being BCS. Beyond that, they become so-so.

Earthx the bowl deals are individual with Notre Dame and the Big East, however, you dont get one with the other. The exception is the Cotton bowl deal with Notre Dame which does not include the Big East. I just dont get the Cotton bowl deal that includes Notre Dame. How can Notre Dame ever get a bid over the SEC and Big 12? That deal is just one more reason why the Cotton bowl has dropped to tier 2 bowl status.

Why does everyone assume the Gator bowl is unhappy with the BE. WVU and soon to be Louisville will help to fill the stadium. No to mention that Connecticut would do the same once the program is ready for a New Years Day Bowl game.

If you look at the SEC this year, the fourth or fifth place team that would be picked for Gator bowl would not be any more attractive that the first place team in the new Big East.

ND schedules Pitt for 8 games.

Yes, as previously announced, Pitt will one of the 8 anchors on the ND schedule and the only NBE team among the 8.

Westwolf, the way I see it is the Pitt/ND games is 8 more games with NBE verses how many Notre Dame games against MWC.

Four of the Pitt games will be at home and available for BE TV games.

Lash, what's the point with the MWC? Other than BYU, ND has no history with the MWC. My point is that with its announced format ND has left no room for significant scheduling with the NBE .

Granted, I can't speak for Lash on this issue, but Notre Dame has a more extensive scheduling history with Air Force than Brigham Young...as for the rest of the MWC, time will tell...I could see Texas Christian and possibly Utah turning up on a Notre Dame schedule in the near future if they are in fact serious about increasing their annual number of home games (and if I-A adopts a permanent 12-game schedule)...while it doesn't appear as though Notre Dame is currently scheduling non-BCS opponents (with the exception of the service academies and BYU), Rice and Southern Methodist have appeared on Notre Dame schedules in the last 15-20 years...

Westwolf not really trying to make a point here! Since you obvouisily are not a fan of the new Big East or Notre Dame, why the interest in Notre Dame lack of scheduling new Big East teams?

Just curous Westwolf, are you happy with your new adopted Maryland team this year? The ACC has been some what of a big surprise this season?

ND is probably going to join the Big 10.

With the exception of the BE and SunBelt, who will be one short, most conferences will be scheduling 8 conference games. Though not a conference, Notre Dame is defining their core "8". There was a reason for this.
Notre Dame is not about to commit to a conference. Wins, such as the recent one on the road at Tennessee, only delays Notre Dame from even further speculating about joining a conference. They already have six wins to be bowl eligible this year. But this schools expects prime bowl placement even if they are not going to get a BCS game. If they lose to Pittsburgh and USC this year, their remaining games, a nice bowl may not be available. However, a mediocre 7-4 season for Notre Dame, still has appeal. We hear the PAC 10 may not fill all their slots, so Notre Dame may have other choices if they do not get their perceived tie-in. They would trump Navy and some good record MAC types.

In trying to get more home games, I suspect ND will play more non-BCS schools. Former SWC and SEC members in CUSA might be appearing (UH, SMU, Rice, Tulane). There aren't many BCS schools who will do road games without a return.

New adopted? I've lived in MD my whole life. Yes, the ACC has been very interesting this year, but it's a down year for UMD - no offense. Fridge should have a better recruiting class next year. The win over FSU on the same day Miami lost the first of 2 to ACC teams was surprising. Next year the apparent BE champs (BC) come to the party.

On the other hand, Louisville should provide a spark to the NBE.

The ND scheduling observations were simply made to refute supposition by TS2 and others that ND was going to become a part of the NBE scheduling mix.