Computer Love | by Jeff

If you haven't looked at the BCS numbers yet, be ready for an ugly picture. In short: the computers hate ND. Despite being ranked #9 in the AP (which is no longer in the BCS) and 11th and 12th in the Harris and USA Today polls, the computers think the Irish are the 25th best team in the country -- behind such powerhouses as Texas Christian (not Texas Tech, mind you) and West Virginia.

A good argument can be made that ND is stronger than plenty of other teams which have better computer rankings: Minnesota, Florida, Nebraska, Oregon, and Boston College, to name a few.

But, I believe these things have a way of working themselves out as the season progresses. And, if it's any consolation, Sagarin's real ratings (which he defines as the "best single predictor of future games") have us at #4, and only two one-hundredth's of a point worse than Virginia Tech, essentially meaning we'd be a push on a neutral field.