Turn on ESPN or any sports talk radio show, and you’ll hear how Notre Dame is a lock to make the College Football Playoff.
The “no one cares about Notre Dame” crowd will tell you that the only reason Notre Dame will make the playoffs is that they are Notre Dame.
Wait… didn’t you just say… Nevermind.
The Four-Letter gives Notre Dame an 88% chance to make the playoff, which sounds great on paper, but in reality, the Fighting Irish still have concerns over whether they will be one of the 12 teams selected.
First of all, I’m not convinced that the Notre Dame-Miami conversation is over. After the Hurricanes’ dominating win over Pitt, it wouldn’t shock me if the committee is convinced that Miami and Notre Dame are close enough to start discussing them together. If and when that happens, the opening night Miami (FL) win over the Fighting Irish comes into play.
That would mean, if Notre Dame is in the bracket, Miami (FL) will certainly be there, but there is a scenario where both teams will be left at home.
If BYU and Alabama win their conference title game and the committee has put Miami (FL) and Notre Dame in the same conversation, there’s not an avenue where Notre Dame gets in.
Heck, does Notre Dame get in if only one of them wins?
Who knows, because the other thing we will find out from the committee is how they will treat Ole Miss now that Lane Kiffin and part of his staff have departed for Baton Rouge. Will the Rebels get treated the same way Florida State was treated when they lost their starting quarterback? Time will tell.
If the Fighting Irish misses the playoff, the biggest regret will be the Texas A&M game, not the Miami (FL) game.
That’s a home loss that realistically came down to two plays. The first is the CJ Carr interception when he could’ve run for the first down, and the second is the game-winning Aggies’ touchdown when an obvious holding call that allowed the play to be converted was missed.
The other regret is the schedule-makers.
Notre Dame came into the season with a new defensive coordinator and an opening night date with Miami (FL), followed by a home game against Texas A&M. We all saw what the defense looked like with Chris Ash at the helm. It was one blown coverage after another.
What happened throughout the season was that as Ash got to know his personnel better, the defense improved. There weren’t as many blown coverages or confusion among the defensive backs.
If the Texas A&M game happens three or four games into the season or there’s a tune-up game before the game against the Hurricanes, the conversation might be different.
The pushback I continue to receive is that if Virginia wins the ACC title game, there’s the belief that the CFP committee won’t put two ACC teams in (they did last season). I’m not sure I’m buying that, and even if it is true, who says Notre Dame gets that spot?
The only thing we know is that Notre Dame has done all it can on the field. There are no more opportunities to blow out opponents and make a case for inclusion.
What’s left is Notre Dame fans being the biggest Texas Tech and Georgia fans in the nation.
