The dust has settled, although the fallout is just beginning to take shape. Today, it is clear in retrospect that the Selection Committee planned to exclude Notre Dame from the playoffs. Two obvious outcomes were paramount in their deliberations. First, Alabama must be protected. The Tide was the first team out last season, and this could not be allowed to happen again. The SEC used its muscle and influence to protect their flagship member. Second, the ACC must be represented to gain a share of the revenue pie.
A review of the chain of events over the past few weeks sheds light on the dishonesty exhibited by the Committee. A complicit media led by ESPN began a relentless campaign to provide cover what was to come. Regarding Miami, the Irish were ranked well ahead of the Canes in the initial rankings release on November 5. Both teams had two losses at the time but won their last four games by comfortable margins. As the weeks passed, the gap between these teams tightened as other contenders fell back. Still, Notre Dame remained in front.
In the penultimate rankings, Notre Dame was ahead of Miami by two spots. The Committee responded to questions regarding this seeding by stating that the Irish were clearly the better team. They acknowledged that the August 31 head-to-head contest between the schools was factored into this assessment. Then, the first signs of danger for Notre Dame emerged. In their rambling rationalization of the rankings, the Committee left the door open to change its evaluation criteria.
Miami and the Irish had been compared as part of a group of teams that also included Alabama and BYU. Notre Dame was the highest rated of the four. However, the Committee inserted a statement that its ranking could change later if two teams were compared only against each other. This was the first red flag that something was fishy.
Alabama’s ranking was equally nefarious. After being seeded below Notre Dame for weeks, the Tide leapfrogged the Irish in the penultimate vote. The Committee attributed this to their “gutsy” squeaker over an Auburn squad that had just fired its coach. Meanwhile, Notre Dame kept on dominating opponents. The final rankings by the Committee were even more indefensible. Alabama suffered its third loss in humiliating fashion to Georgia in the SEC Championship. Their month-long slump hit rock bottom.
Still, the Committee deemed that the Tide should maintain its position above the Irish. Historically, all 15 teams who lost conference championship games were demoted in the final rankings. This included Ohio State, BYU, and Virginia this season. Two of those teams lost by razor thin margins, but lost ground anyway. Alabama, who was soundly defeated, is the first and only team to avoid a drop in its ranking.
ESPN’s well-orchestrated blitz of negative talking points aimed against the Irish laid the groundwork for the Committee. The network scheduled Notre Dame’s final game at Stanford for 10:30PM Eastern time when few would watch. This slight was obvious and the message was clear: the Irish are irrelevant and unwelcome.
Many expressed shock when the Committee announced Notre Dame’s fate on Sunday. Looking back, it should not have been a surprise to anyone. Irish administrators, coaches, players, and fans were lulled into a false sense of security. University leadership failed to counter the onslaught of negative noise in the two weeks leading up to the final ranking. They missed the warning signs until the Committee pulled the rug out from under them.
Several fans asked if the Irish would have made the field if Virginia won the ACC championship. In this case, the Cavaliers would have earned an automatic bid. I still believe the Committee would have placed Miami over Notre Dame with the same head-to-head rationale. Although five SEC and three Big-10 squads were already in, selecting two ACC teams would not raise eyebrows. Remember, the primary objective of the Committee was to ensure the playoff revenues land in the right bank accounts.
Pundits are calling for Notre Dame to forsake its independence and join a conference. What, exactly, could this solve? Would large state institutions such as Michigan, Ohio State, Alabama or Georgia treat the Irish as equals? Not a chance. Joining schools with few common characteristics would not transform decades of hate and jealousy into brotherly love. If anything, Notre Dame would find itself in the minority on cultural, academic, and sports related issues.
The preferred pathway for Notre Dame is to become an agent of change to this biased and flawed system of football governance. Declining a worthless bowl bid was a good start. Many teams have followed suit, which sends a message to ESPN.
More specifically, Athletic Director Pete Bevacqua must lead the charge to deconstruct the current Playoff Selection Committee. This group reeks of conflicting interests and is anything but transparent. A more balanced, data-driven ratings process is needed. When the Committee Chairman’s day job is Athletic Director at an SEC school, the outcome is predictable. Other Committee members have similar conference ties or affiliation with specific schools. None of these people remotely represent or support Notre Dame’s interests.
Bevacqua and Notre Dame must also reexamine the University’s association with the ACC. This group campaigned vociferously against the Irish despite their full ACC membership in 24 of 25 team sports. In football, Notre Dame serves to prop up a weak group that is struggling mightily to maintain relevance and membership. One would expect the conference to remain neutral during this process. When push comes to shove, money trumps loyalty every time.
Today, Bevacqua advocated for a 16-team playoff. This may have helped the Irish this season, but it is not a permanent solution. Notre Dame will remain vulnerable to bias and conference greed until there are more fundamental changes. I expect more from Bevacqua and Notre Dame in the coming weeks. It will be disappointing if little or nothing substantive comes of this farce.
Farley man says:
Why not simply have the 12 (or 16) highest ranked teams at the end of the season get in? This is what Mike Leach suggested years ago…a combination of AP & coaches poll and computer rankings…no conference championship BS.
ND fan in the South says:
It seems the conferences have to show their clout and bring money into their coffers. So they must have guaranteed representation in the CFP games…Or they may perish.
BlazeLikeAChampionToday says:
Yes. Sorry, but the biggest farce is JMU and Tulane being in the CFP. After low ranked conference champions got beat pretty easily in the second round last year, they fixed the bye format. Any possibility they drop the low ranked conference champion lock-in for next year? The gaps with the high ranked teams are too big. This is not March Madness and there won’t be Cinderella stories in the CFP. I may be proven wrong, but I just don’t see it happening.
Then, Bama not being dropped after getting their butts kicked in the SEC championship is the next most ridiculous thing. I don’t mind ND and fans hanging on and arguing this one.
But I feel that getting jumped by UM and the ACC media campaign don’t deserve as much attention. The head to head is a no brainer, even if they should have done it earlier. There was no point in that game where it looked like we would win. Fine, say something about the media campaign but let it go. It distracts from the real issues above and makes ND look like complainers. Maybe ND could have put out a statement congratulating UM and then requesting FSU to send the ’93 National Championship trophy to South Bend.
It’s time to regroup and get ready to kick ass next August.
GO IRISH!!!
ndfan says:
I respectfully, and adamantly, disagree!
BIRGE ROBERT says:
If you want to argue Miami should have gotten in ahead of Notre Dame because of the head-to-head, okay. But how do you explain Alabama getting picked over Notre Dame?
ND fan in the South says:
It’s all about the money. Alabama has been the darling of the SEC for years. By all means, Bama needed to be protected (certainly over Notre Dame, an Independent). ESPN has all the media rights for the CFP games. ESPN owns the SEC network TV stations. So, we have 5 SEC teams in the playoffs each receiving $4M just for getting there. The media talks about the Miami/ND comparison in order to deflect focus on the real injustice with Bama being in over ND.
Scott says:
On this, I will agree. because for weeks, the committee insisted that ND was better than Alabama, BYU, and Miami. And you know what, Louisville and SMU both proved ND was better than ACC slouch, Miami.
Am I angry? You damn well better believe I am!! Because this biased committee is nothing but a briefcase mafia doing its dealings in dirty money!
In other words, you will never convince me that Miami is better than ND. Not this season. And, protected little, ailing lamb Alabama deserved to be held out for a second straight playoff. Too bad the biased committee didn’t agree. GO SOONERS!!! BEAT THE WHEELS OFF THE OLD RUSTY CHEVY FROM TUSCALOOSA!!! GO AGGIES!!! MAKE CARSON BECK LOOK LIKE A FRIGHTENED SCHOOL GIRL!!
Scott says:
“The head to head is a no brainer”
Were you around in 1993 when ND beat #1 FSU? They lost to BC the following week. UNRANKED BC, that is. Please look up who was crowned champion that season. Now, ask yourself: Was head-to-head a no brainer then, too? If so, why was FSU crowned champion?
The fact of the matter is, their records were not identical. How many unranked teams defeated ND? ZERO. NADA. How many defeated Miami? Two. That’s right, TWO.
So, forgive me if I disagree with this assessment regarding the head-to-head. The point is, the moment Miami started losing to unranked teams, this is when the head-to-head argument loses ground. After all, this exact same damn explanation was driven down ND’s throat in 1993.
mike'73 says:
HUGE Nit: That BC team in 1993 WAS RANKED – at #11. Which makes this snub even more hypocritical.
Scott says:
That’s right. Not sure why I was thinking they were unranked. And, yes… that snub was even more egregious. I do recall they were on a winning streak.
Again, though… head-to-head didn’t matter then as they were told the loss to BC sealed it. So, if Miami lost to unranked teams, this was the reason they dropped and were, hence, rightly ranked below the Irish.
GraceHallChapel86 says:
I would think this year’s selection process makes the answer obvious: it’s about certain cabals (aka conferences) flexing and getting at the “trough” as Vannie so eloquently put it. But the arrangement between weak and strong is a marriage of convenience because teams from weaker conferences (Tulane, James Madison) serve as patsies in the CFP. Not counting them, the SEC has five of the ten realistic competitors this year (UGA, Bama, Ole Miss, Texas AM, Oklahoma). The odds alone make it far more likely for them to win, other considerations aside.
Scott says:
It wouldn’t be fair to Alabama. The committee wouldn’t be able to move them to a safe spot and leave them there after losing a beat down.
joe barrett says:
I absolutely agree with everything you said in your article!! It is total BS that ND did not get into the playoffs. I have no problem with Miami getting in because they did beat ND. However, I have a huge problem with Bama being in the playoffs!! Especially after they got crushed by GA, lost to a very weak FSU team and were very lucky to get by Auburn!! And they had 3 losses! Total crap! It’s really heart breaking for ND, since they are one of the top teams in the country and had the 4th best odds to win the championship!! Also, I really hope they get rid of the ridiculous Group of 5 teams getting into the field knowing that they are NOT among the 12 best teams!! I could go on and on about my frustrations about this whole ordeal and not giving one of the best teams in America a chance to win it all!!!
John, I want to thank you for another great year of summaries on ND football. Always look forward to reading them and hope you continue for the 2026 season. Look out everyone, Here Come the Irish!!!!!!!!
Scott says:
Why is everybody okay with Miami getting in? They lost to TWO UNRANKED teams…. TWO!! One of which made Carson Beck look like a child playing QB for the first time! I am not okay with Bama or Miami being in the field. ND’s losses far outweigh Miami’s losses, thus making their records not identical. How you or anyone fail to remember what happened to ND after beating #1 FSU, head-to-head, in 1993 only to have the title taken away from them then is astounding. If head-to-head was deemed unimportant then based on ND losing to unranked BC, then why is it important for Miami after losing twice to unranked foes? The records are not identical no matter how you spin it, slice it, etc.
mike'73 says:
Thank you, John for so clearly and succinctly laying out the timeline, from which the conclusions as to motivations are stunningly obvious, despite whatever lies Yormack, Phillips, and the various ESPN talking heads might say. You can squint all you want, but 1 + 1 is NOT 3. God bless, and Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to you and yours, and to all ND fans.
Topgome says:
And predictably, now that most of the media, former players even from Alabama, and former coaches are admitting the Irish got the shaft, ESPN trots out their two biggest clowns, Finebaum and Smith, to repeat the ridiculous claim that Notre Dame is the irrelevant spoiled brat of college football. Why? Because this “irrelevant” institution had the courage to tell ESPN to shove a poptart up their bunghole which of course is going to cost ESPN money. Especially now that many other teams are following NDs lead in opting out of meaningless games and they can’t even get teams with losing records to play in them. Try selling ad space on those yawners. The committee has been exposed for the sham it is and should be scrapped. I’d rather go back to the days of the AP and UPI polls deciding who gets into the playoffs than this font of shameless dishonesty.
Zahm1974 says:
Correct – use the coaches and writers poll to define the best 12 or 16 teams. Why have a biased committee even have a say ? And Finebaum and Smith are loud mouth and incompetent fools looking for ratings. Hope I live long enough to see another ND championship.
mike'73 says:
MY hope is that I live long enough to see Hysterical Smith and Dumbo-ears consigned SO DEEPLY into the very back of the dustbin of history that NO ONE even knows who they were.
Al says:
We are irrelevant so much that they can’t stop talking about us!
ND fan in the South says:
Notre Dame is being torched for declining a bowl game. Other schools are following suit. The many bowl games that are scheduled after the CFP-selected teams are paired up into the major bowls are basically dying on the vine. These bowls saturate the airwaves. They are losing stadium and TV audiences, and consequently advertising sponsors. Other schools opting out are willing to pay $500k fines than play in the bowls. Apparently, those schools lose more financially or in other ways by playing those games. Once again, ND leads colleges into the future of football. And as always, ND makes the news.
Boomer80 says:
I don’t really see what Bevacqua and ND can do to force CFP reform. Sure, they could put the hurt on the ACC, but that would just drive more teams to the SEC/B1G hegemony. ND is just one school with a very weak schedule next year. It should be easy for the same group to screw ND over again and again because it will be profitable and they don’t like us anyway. Dark days for ND.
mike'73 says:
WRONG! These are the early years of a very bright era for ND CFB, led by Marcus. This year’s disappointment will serve as career-long motivation for our head coach, leaving no stone unturned, no adjustment unconsidered, no clear improvement not instituted. And you can bet your “farm” that unlike his predecessor, he DOES HAVE a short list of candidates of potential future replacements of current coaching staff members that are hired away elsewhere, continuously being updated.
Anthony Dambra says:
Most concise and inciteful article I have read on the collusion by the SEC/Big10/ESPN cabal.
Bevaqua must work towards a selection process that essentially eliminates human intervention by this committee!
We have metrics (AP poll/ Coaches poll/ statistical analysis and AI) that would mitigate human bias.
Selling this would be difficult but MANDATORY!
Thanks Vannie!
Jim Blaum ‘72 says:
AP & COACHES final polls got it right: ND #9, Miami #10, bama #11.
Jim Blaum ‘72 says:
AP & COACHES final polls got it right: ND #9, Miami #10, bama #11.
Joe C says:
The reality is we don’t have enough leverage against the combined might of SEC, Big Ten, Big12, ACC and ESPN. The B12 commissioner chimed in yesterday, they are all lined up against us. So getting the field expanded to 16 may be the only achievable outcome for improving the situation from the current.
manager47 says:
John – you are the Best ! Thanks for your column very clearly setting the record straight on the deceit displayed by the CFP and the very obvious hate of ND. As you stated this is only the start of necessary changes that need to be made and i am confident that the ND AD and University personnel will continue to address this issue. I had to shake my head yesterday as even Finebaum called out the ACC for its unethical tactics ! Go Irish !
William Murphy says:
When Oklahoma maintained their ranking after their desperate late game rally against a lame duck LSU team (and playing in Norman), it was even more than obvious the fix was in. A Mr. Magoo or the Wizard of Oz was head of the Committee which met briefly, gave unanimous approval, then adjourned for lunch. A great decision on our part to skip any bowl game.
David J Fredlake says:
Let’s face it, ESPN execs make the decisions. The committee is just there to make it look ‘fair’. ND made too much money during their run last year. ESPN had to punish ND for not joining a conference and sharing the money.
Pap says:
The committee was instructed to rewatch the Miami game. Wonder why they didn’t rewatch AL/FSU?
Miami/Louisville? The Committee and the ESPN talking heads try to insult our intelligence with their lame rationale. None of them have the courage to just come out and say we hate ND and we’re going to screw them. Royally. Head to head?? Let’s rightfully hang the 93 banner!
Proud to be Irish!!
Scott says:
FINALLY!! Someone who sees what I am talking about! If head-to-head was not important then, it shouldn’t be important now. Raise the banner!!!
Al says:
Great summary. Real sports journalism, unlike anything you’ll ever see on the Mouse network.
What needs to be added is that the SEC added, at minimum, $8 million to its coffers by this brazenly dishonest exercise.
Oh, and that the SEC is simply not a great conference any more; its power and influence are unmerited in relation to the quality of its teams.
Scott says:
Why do you think Disney/ESPN employs Alabama lackeys like Greg McElroy? They need controllable morons at their disposal to urge conference committees to “Rewatch that week 1 game to see what it looked like.” It looked a hell of a lot better than Alabama’s week 1 matchup against floundering FSU, that’s for sure! What about rewatching Miami’s games against Louisville or SMU?
Matt says:
Great article great summary of the corruption that took place! espnsec will never be capitalized again! They screwed not only ND but every person who loves college football with this lame crap with bama being protected and everyone else falls. Let me just bring up one program that disappeared from relevance when they joined the big 10 when it still could count . Penn State they have never been the same since. They are treated like a red headed step child! We would suffer the same fate and it would be done on purpose to ND. I knew people hated ND been a fan for 50 years but these past weeks the hate really came out ! Sad ! Go Irish! Become the Fighting Irish for a battle we must win to remain independent and win the Natty which I totally believed this team was going to do. That’s what makes this even harder to swallow!
NBND75 says:
Matt, your comment on Penn State reminded me of a conversation I had with Jim Seymour years ago on the same subject. He told me he would hate for ND to join a conference because, like Penn State – the “Beast of the East” – we would lose our history like Penn State did and become just another college football team. I also equate that to what happened with the NFL and the Super Bowl, which is nothing more than a renamed NFL Championship Game. The great Packers, Bears and Giants teams are now only a footnote since the media only goes back to the first Super Bowl (which was an exhibition game).
NBND75 says:
Excellent summary of what happened to ND. While a fight against the combined economic strength of the SEC, Big Ten and ESPN/Disney is daunting, our alma mater has faced long odds before, in both football and its own very existence. We have and always will prevail, what tho’ the odds.
The possible mitigation of the power of the evil cabal includes, in no particular order: 1) our own ratings. Smith and Finebaum and Booger and Barrie aren’t beating the drum for ND to play in a meaningless bowl game unless it is significantly hurting the revenues of their employer, as well as trying to quell the outcry against a clearly rigged system – the rest of the country isn’t as enamored with the SEC as ESPN’s talking heads are; 2) the Group of 5 conferences. They were paid off this year with 2 unworthy entrants into the playoffs but that won’t always be the case in the future, if only because the greed of the cabal is insatiable. As they try to manipulate putting the Group of 5 into a separate playoff, they will fight back with threats of anti-trust litigation and lobbying their own congressmen for protection; 3) other networks. I would imagine the decision makers at Fox, CBS and NBC are plotting their own moves to block ESPN’s efforts to monopolize college football; 4) the public at large. In my view ND has too much history to be ignored. Our games are always the top attraction, with few exceptions, on any school’s schedule. The proof is in watching games of other teams played before half filled stadiums at absurd times on ridiculous days, e.g. Tuesday, Wednesday and Fridays (not withstanding the sanctimonious statements of the talking heads that want to protect high school games traditionally played on Fridays). Viewers are starting to vote with their pocketbooks and the clown show that ESPN’s GameDay has become is starting to wear thin, in my view; and finally 5) the NFL. The more the evil cabal waters down college football to be only about the SEC, the more its fans will turn to the NFL where there is at least the appearance that championships are decided on the field, and not in some smoke-filled backroom. While he is a great coach, does anyone else think Saban’s championships were also facilitated by his teams routinely making the 2 and then 4 team playoffs?
As regards our own administration, I think they are the best we have had since the Hespurgh/Joyce era. I don’t fault them for assuming that the committee would act in the best interest of all of college football. The signs started showing late this season that these were dishonest people who had no problem fabricating public lies in order to line the pockets of ESPN, the SEC and the ACC.
In the end, I still believe ND will win over all.
Jack says:
Totally agree on the dishonesty from the committee.
If the committee wanted to argue Alabama was ahead of ND because of a tougher schedule and better top win (against UGA) or that Miami was ahead of ND because of the head-to-hear result, then fine. I might disagree, but the arguments are reasonable.
The problem is that those arguments already existed for weeks where ND ranked above both teams. In other words, if those arguments were indeed valid, then Alabama should not have dropped behind ND after the Oklahoma loss and Miami should have at least jumped ND after the big Pitt win, if not before. So, why didn’t that happen? Because doing that would have taken away the drama from the weekly selection show.
So, in the end, I wholeheartedly believe that ESPN and the committee colluded to use ND as a plot twist so that more people would watch their little show … an unbelievable show of callousness.
R says:
Very good analysis. ESPN, ABC have always hated the Irish. Their game calling have always been biased against the Irish. Even NBC in the last few years have stated they are not the ND station even though they have had a relationship for ever. The Big 12 Commish going against ND AD is comical as 4 or the 10 teams that declined bowls games are from the Big 12. BYU joined the Big 12 to get a firmer chance of getting into the CFP but what has the Big 12 done for them? They haven’t protected BYU at all. I am very proud of the Football Captains and all involved in the football program and the Administration for taking a stand against the egregious behavior.
Farley man says:
please see the best analysis since JVan’s about the playoff, and another way the ACC’s incompetence penalized ND.
Farley man says:
https://www.unionleader.com/analysis-the-acc-broke-the-college-football-playoff-and-notre-dame-paid-the-price/article_f6155a15-284d-4912-8e1a-1dcea96957e2.html
Please see the link for the best analysis since JVan’s about the playoffs, and another way that the ACC’s incompetence penalized ND
Shooter80 says:
Accolades to Mr. Vannie for providing a lucid exegesis of the recent events effected by the autocratic cabal described. The media’s ensuing fatuous prevarications and peremptory syllogisms fail to deflect a byzantine agency whose tenebrous behavior and inchoate casuistry, suggest unaddressed corruption if not malice.
John Vannie says:
I appreciate your reply although I’m not sure if anyone from ESPN, the SEC, or the Playoff Committee can read it. Too many multi-syllabic words.
JimmyWishbone says:
Regarding the key fact that Alabama is the first of 16 teams to lose its Conference Championship game and NOT go down in the playoff rankings
Not sure about anyone else, but this is the first place I have heard this fact mentioned in sports media
It makes you wonder why……
GCD says:
Obvious new system required to chose teams for playoffs. The system should take all major polls into consideration and be AI developed eliminating human influence.
Butters says:
I initially thought the 10:30PM kickoff was only to undermine J Love’s bid for Heisman. He had just risen to #2 in the betting odds.
In hindsight, I think you are right… it was more about people not being able to see us smoke Stanford.
Dr Nick says:
That game was awful to watch, I was falling asleep by kick off. The announcers were horrible and seeing Love go down with that cheap shot to the ribs made the night all the more worse. Went to bed at 1:30 at the end of the third quarter.
John your correct, if Miami was not a lock then the ACC championship would have been VA vs Miami.
Deal was Bama for Miami and possibly VA.
♥️#501988🍀🏈💪 says:
THANK YOU JV FOR ALL OF YOUR HARD WORK THIS SEASON!
As for your analysis on this GREAT ROBBERY………..PREFECTLY STATED.
My only HOPE is the ACTION(S) match the WORDS!
🍀🏈💪
Hydrostan says:
Talking head and big mouth Steven A. said today that Bevacqua’s behavior the last 2 days “could drive Marcus Freeman to leave.” PLEASE tell me this is just another senseless rant by Stevie A.
John Vannie says:
You should be ashamed for tuning into that egregious blowhard.
Irish Coffee says:
The politics that went into this will forever impact and sting the players that showed they clearly belonged in the CFP. When a team that is fully capable of winning the national championship is excluded, it looks and feels corrupt – political.
Among the many things I admire and respect about Coach Freeman is the fact that he doesn’t take cheap shots at other teams and conferences. That’s contrasts with the ignorant fools (e.g. Big 12 coaches and commissioner) who think they know better and level criticisms at ND for not going to a bowl game. I can’t remember a time when things smelled this bad.
Mike G says:
Thank you for all of your excellent columns during the year. I look forward to reading them each week. As usual this column was spot on.
LetsGoND says:
First point:
A political narrative has infected many– their chant is: “Notre Dame , join a conference!”. These are just miserable people who delight in seeing anything of success, knocked down a peg. That is all. Others want to dip into the profits. Both groups should be ignored.
Second point:
Conference championship games, and non-playoff bowls longevity is in question: Non-playoff bowls and their value should continue to fade away. Automatic playoff inclusion, for conference championship winners, doesn’t always represent the purpose of the playoff system: Having *the* best play. (Case in point: James Madison, Tulane.)
ND shouldn’t do anything, other than continue to reject non-playoff bowls, and reject the demands for conference enlistment. Let nature take its course– and let these low tier bowls, and conference championship games, fade.
Joe from CHAPEL HILL says:
The CFP committee structure continues to emphasize Power 4 conferences but no ND direct representation in 2025. This has to change. They should have a seat at the table every year regardless of where they’re ranked…now more than ever.
Jon Torolski says:
Great story. This was a deliberate set up the week Bama jumps ND for no reason. The committee knew exactly what their end game would be. No other team in the top 25 jumped the team in front of them that week when the teams won. Lastly, why do we need a College Football Playoff Committee. The AP has been ranking teams since the 1930’s. The AP and Coaches Poll are pretty consistent. Get rid of the bias, get rid of the affiliations, and get rid of a metric system that they don’t evenly apply. Go back to AP poll and pick the top 12. Plain and simple. This is just another year where CFP won’t have a true National Champion.
Dan says:
John great analysis-
Although ND should be in over Alabama and/or Miami, maybe one should look back at Game 1 and 2 and realize Marcus needs to win one of those- Two big games at the beginning of the season which he had all summer to prepare for, and everyone knew or deep down thought being 0-2 was a problem.( or it would come back to get ya)
The 10 game runoff was expected and maybe too much of a lifeline to rely on.
Yes they got screwed by the CFP dopes, but why leave it up to them with this kinda roster ? Too much talent wasted – They should have been 1-1 after 2. Just sayin ! & to hell with ESPN!
Jim Kress says:
John,
Nice analysis.
Since, at its core, ESPN is the culprit here, could Notre Dame decline to participate in any regular season games televised by ESPN? That would hit ESPN where it really hurts, in their bank accounts.
Garry Lane says:
A formal inquiry should be started in to this CPL … it’s so corrupted !!!!
Maybe even legal action
goirish1988 says:
JV, what is your expectation regarding whether Marcus Freeman will be at ND next year? I don’t know where else to post this, and I value your opinion, which is certainly based on more internal access than mine. It’s great to finally have leadership (Bevacqua, etc.) that is willing to pay him whatever we have to pay him to keep him, but money may not matter to Freeman if the NFL has been his dream (I don’t know whether it has been his dream). I haven’t slept well the last couple of nights and won’t until we see news about a contract modification or that the [Giants] hired him.
John Vannie says:
He is not leaving Notre Dame anytime soon. Ask me again after we win a championship or two.
Gawzie says:
Been Irish fan all my life! Never thought I see the day I’d be ashamed to say I’m a fan. Didn’t get there way so they turned into the kid who takes his ball and goes home as soon as something doesn’t go their way. I always thought ND was the example of class and excellence in sports. This decision to not play sums up the youth these days, thinking they are entitled, and deserve things they haven’t earned. Yes maybe they should have been in, but it didn’t happen deal with it and move on. They should be using this opportunity to teach the players that Sometimes things don’t go the way you want and there is nothing you can do about it,, life’s not fair!! Take the lose like a man stand up accept it and use it as a tool to motivate and teach them how to learn and grow from losing. Accept that bowl game smash whom ever they pair you with and let them know you should have been in those playoffs. Showing everyone you’re a crybaby and Acting like a spoiled brat is such an awful look. Not only that, but it teaches all those kids watching that if something doesn’t go your way then pout and quit act like a child it’s ok to have a tantrum!! ND lost a fan this week, I’ll never look at the Notre Dame football program the same and I’ll never root for that team again. It’s a sad day. Can’t wait to watch them get there a$$ kicked next yr!!!!
John Vannie says:
Michigan needs fans right now. You would fit perfectly with them.
Mike Coffey says:
Vannie’s more lenient than I, since I would have tossed this comment in the trash where it belongs.
OneHistorian says:
Gawzie – settle in for a LONG wait.
LetsGoND says:
You were never an ND fan. That’s obvious. Also, you never say “Oh well, life goes on”, when some good ol’ boy gate keepers deny you entry into something that you rightfully won, and (from the player’s perspective) you shed blood, sweat, and tears over. A lot of guys like you exist– you reward corruption, and worship self-serving execs; overlords. You let them steamroll you and you call it “strength”. Beat it non-ND fan. You won’t be missed.
NBND75 says:
Agree completely. Totally misses the point. This is not a teaching moment unless your trying to teach your players that football is a business about money and political clout – not a kid sport. The spoiled brats work for ESPN, play-acting as sports journalists. Good riddance to this “fan”.
One thing occurred to me about the Alabama part of this farce. The silver lining is by screwing us, Alabama’s fan base got screwed by having to keep a coach who was on a very hot seat.
John Vannie says:
Don’t be surprised if DeBoer is coaching elsewhere next year.
Mike the Third says:
It’s reveal time on “The Masked Sportcaster”
[cue the music]
Stephen A !! We knew it was you at the get go.
Zahm1974 says:
Stick it up your ass !!!
Scott says:
YAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWNNNNNN!! Wake me up when you realize that taking a stand is showing them that their hard work means something. They didn’t earn it?? By whose standard, yours? HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Vannie is right… Michigan is looking for fans… and a coach, now, I hear.
mike'73 says:
PLEASE, let the door crush your fat ass on the way out. You belo0ng with the cheating’ muskets of the esteemed College of Meat0chicken Muskrats, along with Harbaugh, Moore, Yost, Crist, Stallions, Dr. Robert Anderson, and the rest of those criminals. GOOD RIDDANCE!!
Ndvette says:
Wow and I thought you started out by saying you were a fan. A fan understands why decisions are made and understands the history of the team they are a fan of. If you can even conceive that we are capable of acting like a “spoiled brat” or bypassing bowl game out of spite you were never a fan just a wannabe.
Shooter McGavin says:
adios. you’re not or ever were an Irish fan.
Dave says:
The Virginia/Duke question I’m not sure about. I could easily see a scenario where Virginia won, took James Madison’s spot and ND stayed in. I believe the committee would have moved ND back ahead of bama, providing that “buffer” between ND and Miami. But your scenario of two ACC teams is certainly plausible as well. Once the greed starts, it’s not stopping and the idea of two ACC schools in might have been appealing to ESPN.
Regardless, the machinations were all plotted in advance. This wasn’t a grand conspiracy, but the committee almost certainly made the move of slotting bama ahead of Notre Dame with the intention to give itself several “outs” to eliminate ND.
Now ESPN’s discussion has predictably shifted to an attack on Notre Dame to avoid acknowledging what you point out here. How exactly did Ohio St drop after losing a squeaker to the #2 team in the country, Virginia in overtime, or BYU by roughly the same margin to the team that already beat them, but not drop Bama after getting their doors blown off? None of the rationale adds up. The win in Athens is the best win of the season? Yes but that’s very clearly not the same team they just awarded with a playoff spot. The BYU team appears to be exactly the same team they ranked 11 last week. This was a farce and they know it but they want to instead talk about Notre Dame and generate enough hate to distract.
Let me also add that “taking your ball and going home” is exactly how playground law and equity is enforced. When kids are unsupervised they make up their own rules or teams. Sometimes these are advantageous to one side. Sometimes it gets so bent away from fairness that one or more of the kids leaves and this usually fundamentally changes the game if not ends it. They might tease the kids who left, but the lesson is that everyone acts out of self interest but they know they have to keep it fair enough or the game’s over. So yes Notre Dame absolutely took its ball and went home this time.
John Vannie says:
The Committee was not about to drop Alabama below ND in the final vote under any circumstances. Placing them above ND in the week prior required them to abandon all logic and they weren’t going to admit it was a mistake.
Bloviator says:
Another factor that may have been in play: the SEC didn’t want to see a repeat of last year, when its champion was ousted by ND. Freeman has built a team designed to compete with and beat SEC teams. This year ND had the third best betting odds to win it all. The SEC was desperate to eep such a team out.
And to people who dismiss this injustice by saying “no matter how many teams there are, the first one out will always complain,” complaints like that don’t matter much unless the first one out is in fact a real contender for the title, which normally doesn’t happen.
Greg says:
John,
Excellent write up. All that is missing in the public domain are the money transfer wires between the SEC, the committee and ESPN. Where there is smoke there is fire, right? Let’s hope for a non-biased investigative reporter to uncover more details.
Irish Rifle says:
Great article John! I could not agree more with your analysis. Following are my thoughts.
The AP and Coaches polls came out after the conference championship games. ND was #9, Miami was #10 and Alabama was #11. It was a no-brainer, with ND significantly ahead of Miami and way ahead of Alabama. This is exactly what the Selection Committee should have decided as well. ND had been ranked above Alabama in both of those polls for several weeks.
Yet, the cabal, aka the Selection Committee, was determined to ensure that Alabama was included in the playoffs. It was so obvious. The fix was put in motion with the inexplicable and indefensible decision of the Committee to have #10 Alabama jump over #9 ND in their rankings a couple of weeks ago, based upon Alabama’s so-called “impressive” victory over a sub-500 Auburn team, where the game went down to the final minute, while ND obliterated Stanford.
Then the Committee decided in their final rankings to keep Alabama ranked at #9 after they were obliterated by Georgia. This was the first time in the history of the playoffs that a team that lost its last game, including in a conference championship game, did not drop in the Committee’s final rankings. Coincidence? Hardly.
Alabama had not played well for several weeks, while Notre Dame got better and better as the year went on. Alabama is also a one-dimensional team on offense, with no running attack, while Notre Dame is two-dimensional, with the best running back in the country in Love and a top-five running back in Price. Both teams have strong passing games. The game against Georgia also exposed the Alabama QB as grossly overrated. Both teams have excellent defenses. There is no doubt in my mind that ND would beat Alabama every time, and it wouldn’t be close.
A two-dimensional team is going to beat a one-dimensional team every time. The ND demolishing of Texas in the 1977 Cotton Bowl game is a good example. That year, Texas had a poor passing game.
The Committee also required its members to look at one game only – the first game of the year between ND and Miami, thereby stacking the deck. There was no request that they look at Alabama’s loss to Florida State or Miami’s two losses to unranked teams in the middle of the year, or to consider how teams were playing over the course of the year, and particularly towards the end of year. For the last 10 games, ND was arguably if not clearly the best team in the country, based upon its 10-game winning streak and the metrics.
Finally, when all was said and done, it was abundantly clear that the fix was in and that ND deserved to be in the playoffs. Whatever little credibility the Committee may have had, its credibility went down to zero.
The tragedy here is that this ND team had an excellent chance of winning the National Championship but that chance was stolen away by the Committee. What a travesty!
Wardo4 says:
Playoff is pretty much an SEC season x 2. Two of 12 teams in this thing have like -5,000 odds. Fans get to watch constant rematches of the same SEC teams playing each other 2, maybe 3 times in the same year and it’s the same teams year over year. Might as well watch nfl instead.
OneHistorian says:
Permit me this suggestion – let’s take at LEAST 5 minutes for a quiet chuckle (or whatever) to commemorate the goings-on up north in beautiful downtown Ann Arbor.
(Pause)
We now return you to our regularly scheduled programming.
Domer262 says:
History Lesson time. Fielding H. Yost, the coach at Michigan, could not stand Catholics and Notre Dame, and when ND beat Michigan, he did not want to play ND anymore. He was worried that even Michigan students who were Catholic, might start rooting for Notre Dame and thus began a campaign to deny ND into the Big 10 during that time. ND has never forgotten that and that is why they have stayed independent and ESPN and all the other hater conferences, ACC, Big 12, Big 10, and SEC, are jealous of ND and are all spewing their hate. I hope the ACC goes the way the Pac 12 did. Good riddance. As far as Gawzie, you were never a fan and why would Notre Dame go to a third tier bowl like the Pop Tarts Bowl? Had the ND players accepted, it would have been a skeleton team playing anyway. The bowls are a joke now and the Kangaroo Court who makes the decisions who gets in is a joke too. I hope ESPN goes the way of the Pac 12 too. Finebaum makes Mark May look nice. I am over the horrible ESPN network and coverage and all the haters out there can go take a long walk off a short pier. GO IRISH! LOVE THEE NOTRE DAME and I am proud of this team. ND was robbed in the A&M game on the last play too, by the no call by an SEC official. We are the FIGHTING IRISH. FIGHTING CORRUPTION!!! GO IRISH beat everyone next year!!!!!!
NBND75 says:
And the fallout continues. Now ADs of other conferences are “shocked” that ND is guaranteed a spot in the playoffs next year if they finish in the top 12! And more shocked that Notre Dame is receiving special treatment!! A few points: 1) Notre Dame has always had a seat at the table because that puts money in the pockets of the other conferences – why the indignation now? 2) Where is the shock over Tulane and JMU getting into the playoffs because they were guaranteed a place in the playoffs even though they were out of the top 12? and 3) They want to blackball ND from playing their schools in the future (see Fielding Yost and Michigan to see how that worked out).
The real anger is emanating from the stand ND took on the Pop Tarts Bowl. The dominos from that decision now have a 5-7 (1-7 in the SEC) Mississippi State playing in the Duke Mayo bowl. Lots of money to be made there by the ACC, SEC and ESPN! The hypocrisy never ends.
I wonder how ESPN is going to interview Love at the Heisman ceremony? Better avoid playoff talk with him.
Ndvette says:
JV, it is hard to describe how spot on your article is. I agree with everything you said. I don’t know if there is any realistic method to determine, year in and year out, who should be in a championship game. It was crooked long before this committee and ESPN came along. I have watched years of Notre Dame always being lower in the coaches ranking while, at the time, journalists almost always had a different view. Years of Conference Bias where coaches made rankings based on these key factors. 1. teams in their conference, 2. teams they recruited against, 3. voting a team you beat higher to make themselves look stronger. and pure outright hated. We like to think each coach or committee member is above this, but they are not. Rating on strength of schedule for a Notre Dame team if just stupid. Out-of-conference schedules can be made 5-10 years ahead. Each one of next years opponents has been a top 25 team with all but Rice who has not been so since 1950. What ND does not do is preschedule the same “cupcakes” year after year. We should not be penalized in the rankings for playing 3 past national champions, yes, a weak schedule and you can bet we will be called on it all year. If there is a way to determine which teams should be in championship games, the voting should include (at least 30 percent) the odds makers in Vegas. By the way I do applaud the non-bowl game decision. We will use the time to be figuring out who in the transfer portal can help us win the championship.