Buckeyes/Irish Ready for a Fiesta

It’s the final week before the BCS bowl games which makes this game week. This week I will preview all four bowls with the help of fellow bloggers across the country.

Today’s guest blog is Buckeye Sports Blitz sharing his thoughts on the Fiesta Bowl match-up between Ohio State and Notre Dame.

I asked five questions about the bowl game and here they are along with the answers provided by B.S.B.

1. What are you initial thoughts on Notre Dame?

After Notre dame barely beat a 5-6 Stanford Cardinal team,
Lou Holtz of ESPN's College GameDay said that the Irish were
a lock for a BCS bid, saying it was a "great story."

I will admit that having Charlie Weis come in and be able to take a
6-6 squad from a year ago and put them back into the national spotlight
is a great story. But, it seems that Notre Dame had locked up the BCS
bid after the Stanford game just because they were, well, Notre Dame.

The following they would bring to a bowl game, along with the potential
television viewership is one of the reasons why Notre Dame is
playing in the Fiesta Bowl. It also helped that LSU and Virginia Tech
lost in their respected conference championship games.

If you take a look at who Notre Dame has played and who they have
defeated, it's not a real impressive list. Sure, they went to Heinz
Field and beat Pittsburgh by three touchdowns when the Panthers entered
the game ranked #23rd in the Associated Press poll. But then a week
later, Pittsburgh travels to Athens and loses to an Ohio University team in overtime, while Notre Dame travels to Ann Arbor and defeats then third-ranked Michigan.

So after two games, Notre Dame gets wins over two ranked teams on the
road. But if you look at it now, Pittsburgh finished just 5-6, while Michigan ended the regular season going 7-4.

After that, Notre Dame did not defeat anyone noteworthy, with their
only wins over teams with winning records came against a 7-4 Navy team, and a 6-5 BYU squad.

So my initial thoughts of Ohio State playing Notre Dame is this is a
Game the Buckeyes should win. On paper they are a much better team. Notre Dame has yet to face defense like the Buckeyes.

2. What is the best match-up advantage Ohio State in this game?

I think the biggest advantage Ohio State had is the receiving corps
of Santonio Holmes, Ten Ginn Jr., and Anthony Gonzalez vs. the
Notre Dame secondary.

3. What is the worst match-up advantage for Ohio State in this game?

I don't think there is one, but the one disadvantage Ohio State
may have is if linebacker Bobby Carpenter can't play due to a broken
leg suffered in the Michigan game.

4. Which coach do you want on your sideline, yours or your opponents? Why?

Before joining Notre Dame, Charlie Weis had one year of head coaching
experience, and that was on the high school level.

Jim Tressel has many more years of experience, and has won five
national championships as a head coach. He has four NCAA Championships
at I-AA Youngstown State, and one at Ohio State. I'll take Tressel as
head coach, but Weis could always be his offensive coordinator.

5. Give your prediction of the outcome of the game.

Ohio State 41, Notre Dame 24

The Fiesta Bowl is Monday afternoon at 3:30 central. This could shape up to be the best of the BCS bowl games.

Thanks to the Buckeye Sports Blitz for your participation. Good luck in the game!