It's 2020 as of the recording of this podcast, but when Notre Dame takes the field in Dallas to play Alabama in the Rose Bowl — yes, a Rose Bowl in Dallas — the calendar flips to 2021. Thank you to all our loyal listeners who have stuck it out with us through this craziest of years both on and off the field, and a Merry belated Christmas and happy early New Year to you and yours.
On this edition of the Basement Breakdown, the trio of sports editor Hayden Adams, senior sports writer Charlotte Edmonds and sports writer Aidan Thomas:
- Recap Notre Dame's 34-10 loss to Clemson in Charlotte in the ACC Championship game (0:33) and preview the Irish taking on the Crimson Tide for the first time since 2012 (6:18).
- The group also highlights Notre Dame's numerous accolades and briefly discusses the College Football Playoff and what they think of the selections/rankings (18:42).
- As always, Fact-or-Fiction: do the Irish suffer another devastating quarter against the Tide as they did against Clemson in Charlotte and two years ago at the Cotton Bowl? Is this Notre Dame team as good as the Alabama team that crushed the Irish in 2012? (26:15).
- Time for a new segment! It doesn't have an official name, but "This-or-That" or "Would You Rather?" will suffice (credit to Aidan for introducing this bit where we give our preferences for hypothetical scenarios); would you rather the Irish key in on DeVonta Smith or Najee Harris? Who would you want taking a jet sweep/end-around for Notre Dame? If it's 4th-and-goal with one final play to win the game what are you drawing up? What's the one trick play you'd pull out in this matchup? Plus a few more nuts and bolts for discussion (35:18).
- And, finally, predictions, albeit not very optimistic ones (1:05:52).
The Basement Breakdown is available on Anchor, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Breaker and RadioPublic. Please consider following the podcast and checking us out on Twitter: @ObserverSports, @HaydenAdamsND, @jimmyyward, @char_edmonds99 and @GeyerEllen
