I almost died today. In a fiery wreckage of a car crash. Here’s what happened: I was on the road for work and listening to ESPN personality Colin Cowherd. It was slightly after 11:00am and I heard the shock jock say, “A lot of you will hate me, but Notre Dame is gonna win 10 games this year. Without question.” Remember, this from a guy who shouts with joy that cold weather football programs are dead, Notre Dame is too academically rigid, too small, too religion driven, etc. My head started spinning and my vision became blurry. My muscles lost control. By the time I realized I was about to rear end a Honda Accord, it was almost too late. I channeled my inner Carrie Underwood (God, Jesus Take The Wheel is one of my most-hated songs), jerked the wheel to the left, and swerved into the next lane, missing the Accord by like 2 microns. Pileup avoided. The hot blond who I almost hit gives me the finger, and I am fully back in reality. Did Cowherd just say what I think he said?

Look, The Herd is the best radio show on ESPN (and I love Mike & Mike). It is the best because Cowherd is a manipulative S.O.B., and understands that sports fans run on emotion. He attacks this weakness. Makes claims like “Nobody can compete with USC, nobody else can get the athletes. They just pass the eyeball test. Bigger and stronger than everyone else, they made Notre Dame’s players look like little kids.” This, of course, sends Irish fans into a frenzy, foaming at the mouth and ready to fly to Connecticut and meet Colin in the parking lot with a baseball bat.

The problem is, a lot of what he says has some roots of truth. The Irish have lacked athletes (especially defensively). The football powers in the south are stronger than the others (although it is not as simple as “warm weather, pretty girls”).

And when he made his claim about Notre Dame football today, his reasons were right as rain (sounds like a shampoo ad).

-The offensive line experience. The number of starts together by an offensive line has a direct correlation to success. The Blue-Gray Sky has delved into this before. Pre-season magazines get predictions wrong when they look at returning skill players, and ignore the line returnees. The Irish have close to 100 cumulative starts, and should be among the most seasoned in the nation. If you can’t get it done with a senior-laden line that has played together, you will never get it done.

-Weak schedule. USC scares the hell out of me. After that? Umm… Michigan? Michigan State? Boston College? It is a schedule of teams that couldn’t compete in the SEC or Big 12. That ND has to worry about anybody else (Michigan has some rebuilding to do) is just a testament to how bad ND has been lately.

So, Notre Dame should win a lot in 2009. Like double digit wins. When even media guys like Cowherd who like to bang on Notre Dame agree, it clearly indicates that Weis has to win significantly this year. That, or bust.