JotCast | Notre Dame Football Live Chat Nov. 26, 2025

Notre Dame Football Live Chat Nov. 26, 2025

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Eric Hansen

2:07

Great eye Ced. He's my new football crush. Tae Johnson is the guy who caught my eye in the spring. Now Ethan Long. I want to see more. And you're right about the secondary being very good next year. But consider how much they've improved this year and working around injuries. On Sept. 21, after the Purdue game, ND was No. 103 nationally in pass-efficiency defense, the true measure of pass defense. Today, they are 11th.

ced

2:05

ced walker Saginaw Michigan aka sagnasty Saginaw pride very impress with Ethan long how he played vs Syracuse our secondary will be very good next season God Bless This Football Team here come the irish trust the process the golden standard rally we are nd god country go irish love thee notre dame our mother pray for us

Eric Hansen

2:05

Look, I did a Behind The Ballot column every week to give insights into this process and voting in the AP poll, etc. It doesn't prevent people from trolling me and saying I should lose my vote because I didn't vote their favorite team as high as they would. So, I am careful to call someone bias, because I know what it feels like to be called that when you bend over backwards to be fair to all.

2:03

So in other words. just because they have not been in the same grouping doesn't mean they've thrown out the head-to-head and then that will come into play. Unless Notre Dame doesn't handle its business, it's very difficult to see a scenario in which Miami jumps the Irish. ... one last thing, because this process is SO SUBJECTIVE -- and it has to be by the nature of so few comparative data points between teams -- people are naturally going to be skeptical because it's hard to show your work. (more)

And as Notre Dame and Miami -- of course you've got the head-to-head but that's only one data point.
The committee has felt like, as you watched Notre Dame on film, watched their games throughout year, that they have been consistent, even in the early-season games that they lost by three in Miami and by one point to Texas A&M.
Miami is a team that really appears -- looks like the Miami team that started 5-0 and what they have been able to do over the last three weeks in winning those three games and looking really good on the offensive side of the ball.
And so we compare a number of things, when we're looking at teams that are closely ranked together. And so you've got some teams that between Miami and Notre Dame, such as an Alabama, such as a BYU, that we're also comparing Miami to.

Q. I think you touched a little bit on Notre Dame earlier, but can you get into more about how the pod system works? Last week it sounded like they weren't really in the same realm as Notre Dame. This week on TV, it sounded like you did compare them in some way.
HUNTER YURACHEK: I'm sorry, could you repeat your question?
Q. Sure. I was wondering if you could go into a little bit more detail about how the pod system of comparing teams works? Last week it sounded like Notre Dame and Miami weren't really close enough to be looked at head-to-head, and tonight on TV, you mentioned that they had been looked at head-to-head, and I'm just a little confused of how that works.
HUNTER YURACHEK: And "pods" is a bad word. There's groupings of teams that are compared throughout the rankings.
And as Notre Dame and Miami -- of course you've got the head-to-head but that's only one data point.
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