Alex: "Good Evening, and welcome to a special edition of Jeopardy. Tonight our single competitior is Charlie from South Bend, Indiana. Welcome Charlie."
Charlie: "Yeah, whatever, can you hurry this up, I have to get to a signing for my "No Excuses" Book Tour.
Alex: "Certainly, Charlie, select a catagory from the board."
Charlie: "I'll take College Football for $400 Alex."
Alex: "College Football for $400. The answer is -- "October 28, 2006."
Charlie: "Ooh, Ooh, I know this one. "When is the last time Notre Dame beat a team with a winning record?"
Notre Dame beat Navy 38-14 on Oct. 28, 2006 and since then they are 0-15 against teams with winning records. The average score in those 15 losses is 34-15.
With their 17-0 loss to Boston College, Notre Dame falls to 5-4 this year. The five teams they have beaten – San Diego State, Michigan, Purdue, Stanford and Washington are a combined 12-37 for a 24% winning percentage. The shutout was the 3rd in the last 20 games for the Fighting Irish.
They get their best chance this season at beating a team with a winning record comes this Saturday when they once again play Navy. The midshipman are 6-3, but have lost to Duke and Ball State. Notre Dame still has Syracuse and USC on the schedule as well, so at worst they should finish 6-6.
The Notre Dame NBC contract has been extended to match the other BCS network contracts, which means it is in effect through 2014. While the Fighting Irish have been mired in mediocrity for some time, the pact is still a profitable one for both sides. If this slide continues, however, NBC will be as happy with the ratings and the bottom line of Notre Dame football as they are with "Friday Night Lights."