#1 Notre Dame (12-0) v. #2 Alabama (12-1)

The BCS National Championship Game

Sun Life Stadium - Miami, FL - 8:00 PM EST on ESPN

This is really going to happen. Irish fans have wallowed in and out of sincere doubt for years over whether this opportunity for a championship would ever come again. The university's balance between academics and elite football in the modern era seemed to be boxing Notre Dame out of the game's upper echelon more and more with each passing fall. The narrative of how ND emerged in 2012 from the Davie-Willingham-Weis eras of false hope mixed with futility to the precipice of the sport has been well documented over the past 45 days so I won't pile on. The reality of the moment doesn't dilute, for the most loyal of Fighting Irish fans, the surreal aspect of finally watching their team playing for the National Championship again on Monday night. We wanted to believe this resurgence was possible in spite of realities on and off the field that said it might never be. All I can say is - I hope you enjoyed the ride to this point. Oddly, it feels so good ... because it has been so long.

The wins for Notre Dame keep piling up during this 12-0 season as Max Redfield, a five star safety according to Rivals, made his verbal commitment to Notre Dame during the Under Armour All-American game.

Safety Max Redfield committed to #NotreDame during the #UAGame. He’s the third five-star to join the Irish recruiting class.

— Irish Illustrated (@NDatRivals) January 4, 2013

So, what does this recruiting victory mean?

Finally An Elite Safety Is South Bend Bound

After years of targeting and losing out on safeties of this caliber, Notre Dame got their man. It's not that Notre Dame hasn't recruited some very good safeties over the past 5 years, but they kept losing out on the elite guys despite all that Notre Dame offers plus a real chance at early playing time.

Dropping An Elbow On Southern Cal

During the season, nothing is sweeter than beating Southern Cal. The same can be said for recruiting. Nothing is sweeter than beating Southern Cal in a recruiting battle, and Notre Dame did exactly that with the commitment of Max Redfield. USC also suffered an couple of other decommitments other than Redfield in Eddie Vanderdoes and Sebastion Larue. Guess who is visiting Notre Dame real soon? Yep. Larue & Vanderdoes will both be visiting South Bend later this month. Hahahahahahaha

One Last Domino?

Notre Dame is basically down to only one more open spot as I discussed in THIS ARTICLE and THIS ARTICLE. And with that one spot, I firmly believe Notre Dame will hold out for Eddie Vanderdoes. Now, could Notre Dame find a way to open up another spot? I suppose they could and perhaps that would only be used for Vanderdoes. This could be likely if Larue wants to commit after his upcoming visit.

Closing

As opposed to most years, I have no worries heading towards signing day. The guys that have committed will sign with ND, and another commit or two is just the icing on a sweet cake of awesome.

Let's see how this ride is handled.

Welcome to the Irish Blogger Gathering on Subway Domer. Friends, we are only a few days away from the BCS National Title Game and I gotta tell ya... HOLY FUCKING SHIT I'M READY TO KILL THIS MOTHERFUCKER.

This week, Your Emperor was blessed to have ND Tex from Her Loyal Sons to interrogate. He doesn't like my rules- THERE ARE NO RULES IN NAM!

We better get this thing rolling before I break the screen, but be sure to also check out Inside the Irish and also Strong And True for your Emperor's thoughts.

Let's IBG this thing:

If you are going to be in Miami... live life right. 

Notre Dame is currently ranked #2 in Rivals Team Recruiting Rankings. Something about this looks strange- like too little or too much math is involved. What the hell?

Tarean Folston a 4 star running back from Florida has committed to Notre Dame for the incoming class of 2013 according to 24/7 reporter Gerry Hamilton. 

Under Armour All-American Tarean Folston commits to #NotreDame per @gerryh247sports bit.ly/X0VvlX #Irish

— Jason Sapp (@BGI_JasonSapp) January 2, 2013

This is huge news for the Irish as they now have the commitments from two of the best running backs in the nation with Folston and the Bryant commitment from last month. 

This, effectively, leaves two spots available in Notre Dame's 2013 class. With a handful of prospects still showing HUGE interest in Notre dame and planning visits to Notre Dame in January and with the probable commitment of Max Redfield coming up, this class could not only end up as the #1 class in the country, but it will be an entertaining finish that should end in fist pumps instead of kicking your dog. 

Stay tuned!

Well, 2012 turned out to be a pretty good year, huh?  The pure awesomeness of 2012 was really put in perspective when I decided to comb the SubwayDomer archives. For all the current euphoria around the program, that was definitely not the feeling when 2012 kicked off.  They say that whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger and that was certainly true of NDFB in 2012. To relive some of the ups and (perceived) downs just peruse this time capsule of 2012: the very best posts from SubwayDomer.com this year!