Christmas has come early in South Bend this year. Following this weekend’s dismantling of Florida St, there is no question that Notre Dame is a major player for the national title. Before any of the Irish faithful start booking their tickets for Tempe though, there a few more items that would help make the road to the Fiesta Bowl a little smoother.

First, and most obvious, the Irish need to keep winning. With seven undefeated teams in the current BCS, there is almost no way Notre Dame could recover from a loss, this late in the season, and get back into the top two.

Second, Notre Dame needs to win big in their next three games. Simply "getting by" a struggling Boston College and two of the nation’s worst teams, Navy and Rutgers, will not do. If Notre Dame can win impressively against those three (which they should) that might help them move up in the Coaches and/or Associated Press Poll’s where they are ranked sixth and fourth, respectively. That would decrease their poll average, one of the five components in the BCS.

Third, as blasphemous as its sounds, start cheering for Michigan. Currently, the Irish have no quality wins by BCS standards (a quality win being defined as victory over a team ranked in the top 10 of the BCS). The only real chance of attaining one, is for Michigan to win out and get back into the top 10. In fact, cheer for all of Notre Dame’s opponents. Notre Dames schedule strength is currently forth, but it is about to take a big hit with the next three opponents having a combined record of 6-17. Meanwhile, Oklahoma and Miami, the two teams ahead of the Irish in the BCS will see their schedule strengths rise. Miami still has an undefeated Virginia Tech team, while OU still has Colorado and, possibly, the Big 12 championship. Go Maze and Blue!!! Go Pitt!! Go USC!!!

The fourth factor may not be necessary, but it sure would make life easier for the Golden Domers. Oklahoma, Miami, Virginia Tech, Ohio St, and Georgia all are ahead of Notre Dame in one of the major polls. One of them losing would boost the Irish up in the BCS. We know after their December 7^th game, either Miami or Virginia Tech will probably fall behind all the other undefeated squads. Oklahoma has their afore mentioned pitfalls. Georgia still has Florida, Auburn, Ole Miss and, perhaps, the SEC title game on the schedule. Ohio St still has Minnesota and archrival Michigan. Essentially, the next 5 weeks will serve as a playoff system, or as close as we are getting this year.

This season has already been more than any sane Notre Dame fan could have expected. They can only control their own play and see where the chips fall. All those worried about being on the outside looking in come New Years, just remember the last Saturday of the regular season in 1998. Two of the last three undefeated teams (UCLA and Kansas St) tasted defeat on the last day of the regular season, and the third (Tennessee) was down 14-10 midway through the fourth quarter. There’s a lot of time left in this season for crazy bounces, blown calls, fifth downs, and destiny.