A few random thoughts before I head off to South Bend to watch Brady and Company play their final home game for the Irish.

Am I the only one who finds it interesting that every Notre Dame critic this season seems to point to the team's "easy schedule" as being a negative factor when considering the Irish a national championship contender as well as Brady Quinn a Heisman Trophy front-runner? If you actually look at the facts, Notre Dame has played a much tougher schedule than most people realize. BCS expert Rick Tellshow has Notre Dame's strength of schedule at an impressive 11th. Troy Smith and the Buckeyes? They're 41st.

I watched the replay of Bob Knight's love tap on Michael Prince's chin during a timeout of the Texas Tech/Gardiner Webb game Tuesday night and I had one simple reaction. Nothing. Maybe teaching in the ghetto of Alabama has changed me, but it didn't look outrageous to me. We all know Knight is close to crazy at this point. So he smacked a kid in the chin to get his attention. Big deal. The kid said it wasn't a problem. The parents said it wasn't a problem. Knight said it wasn't a problem. The Texas Tech AD said it wasn't a problem. To me, that means it wasn't a problem. Did ESPN really need to make it the top headline last night and this morning as well as run three separate articles about it? Is that necessary? If Bruce Pearl did that, would it make national headlines? Absolutely not.

Speaking of ESPN, how bad has that network/Web site gotten the past couple years? It's atrocious. Talk about falling from the top. Remember when it had the Olbermann, Patrick, AND Kilborn? Now the main anchorman is Stu Scott. He hasn't even mastered the English language yet. I have to Tivo each segment he's in and replay it so I can find some level of understanding. It's like trying to understand the guy who works for Delta airlines customer service department. You KNOW he lives in India working for 6 cents an hour, but here he is, pretending to be "Charles Thomas". Listening to him stumble through a sentence is almost painful. You just want it to be over and wish you'd never have called in the first place. That's the world I live in when Stu Scott does a segment on SportsCenter. Would Olbermann have ever screamed "Booyah" after every other dunk? I think not.

The Web site might be worse. The front stories are either about Barry Bonds, Terrell Owens, the BCS mess or how Barbaro's foot has healed enough that he's become interested in the philly horses living three stalls down. Here's an idea, how about a story about something relevant? One time fellas? Think about it?

And how in the hell is Linda Cohen still getting paid to work there? Is it like in Office Space when Inatech accidentally keeps paying Milton even though he was supposed to be fired three years ago? Isn't that the only viable explanation for Linda Cohen still being on ESPN? I mean, there's got to be someone better out there. Can't we get Suzy Kolber in the studio? Please?

Question for you: If you have a quarterback who has thrown for 1,300 yards, recorded an 11-to-1 touchdown to interception ratio and kept your team in the playoff race, would you bench him for a veteran who nearly got killed during Week 1 in one of the nastiest hits in recent memory and hasn't seen the field in several months with your playoff hopes riding on winning the next couple games? Me neither. But, then again, neither of us is Herm Edwards.

I am a little surprised Ohio State is a 6.5 favorite against Michigan this Saturday. The Wolverines have played with a chip on their shoulder all season, overcoming doubters since Week 1. Hearing the Buckeyes are decided favorites can only add fuel to that fire. It's going to be an interesting game, for sure. Ohio State has won convincingly in every game this season except Penn State and Illinois, garnered the undisputed No. 1 ranking, and tout having perhaps the "best" player in the country. But everyone keeps forgetting, Michigan's defense will easily be the best unit Ohio State has faced all season. By far. No question. The Buckeyes schedule has seen them beat an overrated Texas team breaking in a freshman quarterback in early September, an ugly win over Penn State, and a convincing victory against 6-5 Iowa. None of those defense are in the same stratosphere as Michigan's. Am I the only person who thinks the Wolverines are going to present major problems for the Buckeye offense?

One last note on this game: If you've watched Mike Hart run at any point this season, you've seen one pissed off guy. I mean, he looks like someone who lost his girlfriend to another man and has been taking his anger out on any collegiate defense he can find. Goof grief, is he a hard runner. Every time he runs, he's got the same look Rudy had when he's getting ready to hit the tackling dummy in his last high school practice. Except, Hart's actually good.

Finally, I expect the Irish to play well as they complete their trifecta with the service academies. I always get a little nervous when Notre Dame plays Navy, Air Force, or Army simply because all three of those teams play their best games against the Irish. Or Notre Dame plays its worst games against the academies. Either way, here's hoping for a comfortable tune up before the showdown with Southern Cal on the 25th.

Be back Sunday. Go Irish.