I imagine being from Indiana (or maybe you even live there) you are way more inundated with Notre Dame and Ohio State stuff than me. I personally don't remember ND getting more hyped by writers than any national title game team does, but I live in Texas. I don't notice them getting treated any differently than any other major program. I can't remember the last positive article I've seen about them, most seem to center on the coach's shelf life or lack thereof. Ohio State wins a lot of games, routinely has the best recruiting classes, and has a coach that is a multiple national championship winner, of course most writers are going to think they are good. When they weren't that good writers didn't write that glowingly about them.
I guess being a journalism major you naturally are very tuned in to what the media thinks/says. To some, that's even more important than the games themselves. I just don't really pay it much attention, teams play each other on the field, the results speak for themselves, and that's really all that matters to me.
