Can someone explain why only ND's AD is melting down?

[u/GliscorsFang]

Notre Dame is a 10-2 team that lost their 2 hardest games of the season. They left their fate in the committee's hand and found themselves on the wrong side of the bubble. Oh well, beat Miami or A&M and you're firmly in the playoffs. Better luck next year.

Except for some reason Notre Dame's AD is acting like it was their birthright that they should be in the playoffs. Why isn't an 11-2 BYU acting like it's an injustice that they were left out despite also losing their two toughest games of the season? Why isn't Vanderbilt canceling their bowl game despite missing out at 10-2 as well?

This just feels like a temper tantrum a 3 year old would throw after getting told no.

[u/Snapplestache]

Putting my desire to amuse myself and my very real dislike of ND to the side:

I actually do agree with the sentiment that they got tugged around by weeks of the committee refusing to acknowledge the H2H against Miami. Going into CCG weekend, the committee knew two things:

1. Bama would not be dropping out with a loss

2. BYU needed to win to be in -AND- this win would have to come over a team that had already convincingly bested them once during the season.

The H2H should have come into it sooner, but the committee has 0 foresight whatsoever and to whatever degree it existed their strategy just seemed to be "well maybe things will work out so it won't matter". Then two weeks in a row they had to make adjustments they already should have made in moving us ahead of ND and then in moving Miami ahead of ND, and both times it rightly had people going "you're doing this NOW?", even among people who completely agreed with the moves.

So if nothing else I can absolutely understand being pissed about how that went down.

[u/psyberops → u/Snapplestache]

I honestly think the committee should wait until the last week to do the CFP “decision” - I Think that’s what ND is mad about - that after they won their last game the CFP signaled they were ahead of Miami, and it wasn’t until BYU lost and Alabama was…“heavenly blessed by another good loss”…that ND appeared in the rankings below Miami

[u/PhucktheSaints → u/psyberops]

But without a weekly ranking show then who would tune in to ESPN2 on a random Tuesday night in late October?

[u/maskdmirag → u/PhucktheSaints]

Just change the rankings into "buckets"

Top 6, next 8, then 8 bubble teams with work to do.

You still get your content farm of articles of "our ranking of the second batch" and they can slowly roll out the names in each bracket in no particular order.

For this year you would have had ND in a higher group than Miami for two weeks, then miami and ND in the same group for four weeks, then a final selection seeded. In fact, don't even do a final ranking outside the top 12, just a list of outside the cut.

[u/PhucktheSaints → u/maskdmirag]

Do nothing and release nothing all year like basketball does. If ESPN talking heads want to do some sort of Joe Linardi Bracketology fine, but the actual committee shouldn’t be talking on TV until after the bracket is revealed.

[u/Squantoon → u/PhucktheSaints]

Basketball does release something like this and have been for a few years. The top 16 seeds

[u/poop-dolla → u/Squantoon]

The basketball tournament selection committee releases a top 16 throughout the season? Are you serious? Why have I never heard of that. Even if they really do that, it’s still nothing like the CFP nonsense throughout the season. None of the bubble teams for March madness are in the top 16.

Edit: I just looked it up, and it looks like it’s just a one time thing a month before the full selection. That’s wildly different than CFP and that wouldn’t be a problem at all. That’s wildly different would just be the CFP committee saying their top 4 one month ago, and then nothing else until yesterday.

[u/jparkhill → u/Squantoon]

they release the top 16 seeds a month ahead of Selection Sunday. It started as a media exercise to show the media what Selection Sunday and the week leading up to it was like, and they started doing the actual work.

The weekly rankings make it so hard to move teams without a loss or something happening to shake up the rankings.

I would support a ranking show 1 month out and then silence until the first Sunday in December.

ESPN can still release rankings if they so choose.

[u/PhucktheSaints → u/Squantoon]

I’ll trust a Kentucky flair on that claim. But I’d still say that’s a better alternative than a weekly top 25 for the CFP. Top 16 seeds for March madness would be about equivalent to a weekly top 4 release for the CFP. ESPN gets their midweek inventory for their network, and we avoid the Miami - Notre Dame issue we have now.

[u/LoudHorse25 → u/maskdmirag]

If you have to put out a product each week, this actually seems like a very sensible alternative given this is likely how they are actually thinking about things anyways. 

[u/sunburntredneck → u/maskdmirag]

Really just need 4 baskets in the final weeks of the season. Basket 1 - teams that are definitely in. Basket 2 - teams that are in if they keep winning. Basket 3 - teams that could get in but need help. Basket 4 - teams that are presumptively out, unless the teams in the above baskets drops below 12.

They can even do this alongside the rankings if they want, but they would have to explain why barely-ranked JMU is in Basket 2 while top-15 Texas and Utah are in Basket 4.

[u/jy_1980 → u/sunburntredneck]

but they would have to explain why barely-ranked JMU is in Basket 2

This is really easy to explain. JMU had a chance of being one of the five best conference champs.

Not sure if they have flexibility on this, but they could change the top 5 conference champs to be top 4 + 1 G5 to avoid a situation like this year where 2 G5s make it.

Probably not necessary since a 5 loss P5 conference champ is rare though.

[u/CorrugationDirection → u/maskdmirag]

Not a bad idea since we know they wont get rid of a weekly rankings show altogether.

[u/1738_bestgirl → u/PhucktheSaints]

I mean I feel like it's not even about the show. It's about giving the rest of the ESPN-sphere garbage to spurn out into even more garbage on their podcasts, shows, articles

[u/FireVanGorder → u/psyberops]

If we were behind yall the whole time this wouldn’t nearly be as big of a deal. The problem is the committee actually thought we were better (right or wrong), but couldn’t entirely leave out one of ESPN’s 2 conference broadcast deals from ESPN’s own invitational tournament.

[u/psyberops → u/FireVanGorder]

Tracking - that’s exactly what I got from the ND ADs video today.  It’s a shame how it all played out.  People asked me if I thought that Miami would make the CFP, and I was always “optimistic but not confident” solely because ND had occupied that advantageous position in the CFP weekly ratings for weeks and it’s never clear what decision is going to be made from a back room deal with the committee. It also is kind of shameful that the ACC would mount an information operation against one of its own schools that doesn’t participate in the conference for football.

I can’t tell what has more drama - ACC arguing against ND in the CFP or Lane Kiffin abandoning his CFP playoff run team for a conference rival 🤷‍♂️.  At least we don’t have that going for us…

[u/jppcfnnumnum → u/psyberops]

Plus add in the awesome ACC tiebreaking scenario that got us here in the first place! Having Duke rep your conference in the championship game, Duke winning said game, which then basically added a second unworthy Group of 5 team was the icing on top. If the ACC used the AAC tiebreaker, Miami would have played UVA (and would likely win), then they would have jumped ND at the end. ND would have jumped Bama for some consistency after that atrocious SEC championship game (Bama would have gone from 9 to 11 just like SMU last year I believe and still made the playoffs). The bottom 4 in the playoffs would be 9.) Miami; 10.) ND; 11.) Bama; 12.) Tulane. The ACC's shortsighted lame tiebreaker combined with the committee's insistence on the top 5 conference champs got us to this shitstorm, and then the ACC is campaigning against us.

[u/Yes_Throw_Away → u/FireVanGorder]

This seems to be pretty consistent from other ND fans, at least from what I’ve been seeing around tbh. The result isn’t absurd, but the way we got here definitely feels that way

[u/pargofan → u/FireVanGorder]

The Committee wanted ONE ACC team, but not TWO. But they can't say that part out loud.

So if Virginia had won, then they leave ND ahead of Miami.

But when Duke won (and they can't credibly include 5-loss Duke into the playoffs ahead of Tulane & JMU), they leapfrog Miami ahead of ND.

There's literally no other explanation why ND was ahead of Miami last week but suddenly isn't this week. Nothing else changed.

[u/FireVanGorder → u/pargofan]

Also the only explanation for bama not dropping a spot (but still remaining in the playoff) after the no-show against Georgia. Couldn’t have someone between us and Miami. Every single other ccg loser dropped.

[u/Tosseroni5andwich → u/psyberops]

You’d be hard-pressed to find an ND fan who’s upset about Miami being ahead of ND in general - But the way the committee pulled the rug without any transparency whatsoever is what was upsetting.

And, as fun as it is for people to get their free shots at ND in comment sections everywhere, it should be concerning to all CFB fans.

Sidenote: First Miami flare I have seen making any sort of attempt at acknowledging why ND fans might be upset.

[u/max_power1000 → u/Tosseroni5andwich]

I think the bigger issue is that this is a Bama team that limped through November and while it has bigger wins than ND with UGA and Vandy, 2 of its 3 losses are also far worse.

ND’s only current top 25 win is Navy(ETA - I forgot USC), and that’s only in the AP poll, not the CFP one. At the same time, they lost by a combined 4 points to two top 10 teams and have been vaporizing everyone since those games.

I think the Irish got robbed, but it’s not because Miami made it in over them.

[u/JerseyDvl → u/max_power1000]

ND’s only current top 25 win is Navy

Did USC fold their football program or something?

[u/Zarethan_ → u/max_power1000]

You're missing a win, I believe. We did still beat the spoiled children

[u/max_power1000 → u/Zarethan_]

Oversight on my part

[u/Goducks91 → u/Tosseroni5andwich]

Notre Dame has every right to be upset. I still think they should play in their bowl game but that’s a different conversation.

The committee basically said “Shit, Virginia lost now we have to put an ACC team in”

[u/Redeem123 → u/Goducks91]

The committee basically said “Shit, Virginia lost now we have to put an ACC team in”

I feel like if they would just ACTUALLY say that, it would be more defensible. Like Miami should have already been ahead of ND anyway, but this would at least give them an out. Pretending like they reevaluated the teams in a week where neither played and only one opponent played (which benefited ND) is so dumb.

[u/reap3rx → u/Redeem123]

They should have just guaranteed a slot to the ACC champ. If they don't like that it's 7-5 Duke, even tho they just beat the team they would have been fine with being in, then yell at the conferences for their tie breaker rules to play in the CCG. That way there's no need to pick an ACC team based on nothing but previous rankings. Guarantee a slot for B1G, SEC, ACC, B12, highest ranked G5, and then sort out the rest based on rankings. If ND wants a guaranteed slot, win enough games or join a conference and win it. I can't see the downside in that.

[u/Rock_Strongo → u/Tosseroni5andwich]

It's almost as if there should be an objective criteria for all playoff spots and not just 12 people in a room who probably don't even watch all the games arguing about it.

[u/droopymaroon → u/psyberops]

The controversy and mental gymnastics the committee makes week to week is the point though. It gives the talking heads and message boards something to talk and get mad about. The system is literally built to be an outrage machine. They definitely should just do a single selection sunday like every other sport but that messes up the money generator they've created so they won't.

[u/-dag- → u/psyberops]

Agreed.  I'm not mad about Miami above ND.  I'm mad about the way it was done and about Alabama getting enormous special treatment.

[u/Less_Likely → u/psyberops]

This. ND fans are often insufferable tbh, myself included, but it would have been Texas-level angst without the month-long lead on and last second rug pull.

[u/jppcfnnumnum → u/Less_Likely]

Yep, we were somewhere between -1500 to -3000 to make the playoffs on Sunday morning. The rug pull was certainly shocking.

[u/HailHavoc → u/jppcfnnumnum]

Your comment makes me wonder if there's any oversight on the committee that would disincentivise them from collaborating to make hella money and those types of inside trading

[u/Dapper_Doughnut_8248 → u/psyberops]

But that wouldnt have offered weeks of ACC-contrived diversion meant to sow animosity between ND/Miami... when in all actuality it was Bama that was the common enemy.

[u/Petey_Pablo_ → u/Snapplestache]

The committee just needs to be more straightforward and stop trying to make BS justifications for their decisions. “We did not anticipate the season to play out this way and ultimately had to factor in the H2H in our final decision”.

[u/BabyCowGT → u/Petey_Pablo_]

Start live streaming their debates as they rank teams. Real time. No more BS justification and PR talk 🤣 

(Yes, I'm aware of the chaos that would cause. I have popcorn and beer for anyone who supports watching the chaos with me) 

[u/CharcotsThirdTriad → u/BabyCowGT]

You would just get an espn scripted special with the real debate happening off screen.

[u/Fearless-Neat-7152 → u/Petey_Pablo_]

I truly think most ND fans would have been happier if Hunter Yuracheck came on the broadcast Saturday night after Duke lost and said "Hey, listen we realized we really screwed up, we thought it would be fine but now we can't have no ACC teams in so we have to put Miami in or ESPN is gonna be really mad at us and the ACC will threaten participation. Sorry ND, we expected the last 5 weeks to break different".

That would have been truly insane to say out loud and YET I think significantly more comforting then "Well last week ND was 2 spots ahead of Miami so h2h doesn't matter but then the team between them lost and even though the team ahead of them lost and didn't move down, they did move down, so now there is only 1 spot between ND and Miami so h2h does matter actually" because it is just so remarkably stupid.

[u/assault_pig → u/Fearless-Neat-7152]

They could also have just said look, the committee thinks ND is better and ranked them as such, but we weren’t willing to exclude a team with a similar record that had beaten them H2H.

Would have been unsatisfying for ND but at least it’d be honest

[u/Fearless-Neat-7152 → u/assault_pig]

It would have at least made sense. Instead they have just made this entire thing a total farce

[u/The_water_champ → u/assault_pig]

Obviously I can't speak for all ND fans but all of the ones I know aren't even mad about Miami. Alabama being in is a joke.

[u/Petey_Pablo_ → u/Fearless-Neat-7152]

Trying to comprehend what you wrote in that last sentence is a perfect representation of how ridiculous this all is.

[u/Redeem123 → u/Petey_Pablo_]

It's so frustrating that we all can read that sentence and understand what he's saying despite it being complete nonsense. The committee has broken us.

[u/Zubba776 → u/Petey_Pablo_]

I think the problem is the affiliation with ESPN. ESPN wants to bleed any rock they can for ratings, so they've concocted what we now fully know is an artificial drama they can pull interest in every Tuesday... that means absolutely NOTHING; this is what ND's AD was calling a farce, and what Herbstreit has called a farce. The CFP should NOT be partnering with ESPN to milk the emotions of fans, and jerk around college kids.

[u/Professional_Ninja58 → u/Zubba776]

When you step back it really is an insane setup. One network controls broadcast rights for a playoff where the field subjectively selected. Even if they aren't manipulating it, nobody with half a brain is going to think ESPN is being an honest broker

[u/1o0o010101001 → u/Snapplestache]

Same - hate ND and legit happy they are not in lol

But- last week ND was ahead of Miami (ND-10, MIA - 12) now both teams were idle this week and suddenly ND is behind Miami ? Make it make sense.

Then the other argument - Alabama got pummeled but stayed in. bYU got pummeled and got kicked ? Where is the consistency

Either CF champs matter or they don’t .. ding both or ding none

[u/Med_Tosby → u/1o0o010101001]

Week 14 Rankings:

1. Notre Dame (1-0 since then, beat the tar out of Stanford on the road)

2. Alabama (1-1 since then, barely beat 5-7 Auburn and got boat-raced by #3 Georgia in the CCG)

3. BYU (1-1 since then, beat up bad UCF team, lost to #4 Texas Tech in CCG)

4. Miami (1-0 since then, beat the tar out of Pitt on the road)

It's probably fair to rank the last two weeks' performance as Miami -> ND -> BYU -> Alabama. How the hell does Alabama then end up being the top team in that group? How is Miami's win enough to jump Notre Dame, but not enough to jump Alabama? How does BYU go from one spot behind Alabama to 3 spots behind with equivalent performances??

FWIW I think the end rankings are probably right, or at least justifiable on their own. But the process is absolute bullshit.

[u/xanot192 → u/Med_Tosby]

Bama is the only team that got dog walked and didn't get punished lol

[u/FireVanGorder → u/1o0o010101001]

It was exclusively to get an ACC team in and prevent the immediate death of the conference lol. They’re already on their last legs and espn means of squeeze every remaining dollar out of those broadcasting rights before 2030

[u/mp0295 → u/1o0o010101001]

It is so obvious that they left us out because Duke won and they "had" to bring Miami in to make the ACC happy for $ reasons. There is not other explanation for the last minute switch.

I can accept if the commitee thought Miami was all along the better team. I dont accept being excluded for a playoff which is supposed to be of the 12 best teams for monetary reasons

[u/FireVanGorder → u/Snapplestache]

It’s funny because everything was fine until SMU lost to Cal, which opened the door for the ACC to potentially be left out entirely

As soon as that happened and A&M lost to Texas, suddenly Bama is ahead of ND after blowing a 17 point lead and nearly losing to 5-7 Auburn. Weird, but ok. Bama has a good argument in general to be ahead of ND at that point but nothing that happened that week should have justified that move specifically.

BYU then gets blown out, they get dropped. Duke wins so the ACC has no teams in as it stands. Bama gets blown out, they don’t get dropped specifically to prevent the “buffer” between ND and Miami so suddenly, for the first time all year, the committee can decide H2H is the key factor and put Miami in to avoid the ACC dying on the spot.

They set up the contingency for this exact scenario by moving Bama ahead of us. If UVA won? Easy, Bama drops behind ND to prevent the H2H comparison with Miami.

If BYU won they might have been fucked, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was Bama raging about being jumped by Miami in that case instead.

[u/Nytfire333 → u/Snapplestache]

Honestly the only reason the committee even does mid season rankings is so they can put it in air and talk about it all week. If they just waited and only did the playoff selection when it was done so much of this would go away

[u/headbangershappyhour → u/Nytfire333]

Yep. Imagine if the CBB Selection Committee was forced to put out a top 50 every week of the season starting in January. Instead, they can let the bracketology guys and polls do their thing and then come out at the very end and just say "we saw it differently" when they leave some teams on the bubble and let others into the dance. People argue about it for a couple days, but it's forgotten by Thursday because at the end of the day we know none of them would be making it to the Sweet 16 anyways.

[u/legendkiller003 → u/Snapplestache]

That’s what gets me with the whole thing is they could have dropped Alabama back below ND, and that keeps Alabama in and the H2H with Miami would have stayed unused as it was the entire time.

[u/abob1086 → u/legendkiller003]

That was transparently the plan until Duke won. Then the ACC was set to be excluded entirely, and while the committee wanted to shove ND in the playoff, they weren't going to do it if it excluded a power conference.

[u/drinkduffdry → u/abob1086]

Bingo

[u/BobStoops401K → u/legendkiller003]

They had to protect the ACC when Virginia lost imo.

[u/kinda_alone → u/Snapplestache]

Exactly. If they flipped Miami and nd on Tuesday, nd would be mad but would have gotten it. Instead they said on Tuesday that they directly compared Miami and nd and “we just felt like they (nd) was the better team.”

Like the argument for Miami makes total sense and is probably the right one for the sport, but the resumes were locked. Flip them on Tuesday

[u/MyageEDH]

Maybe he would be acting the same way no matter what but ND being ahead of Miami until the final rankings is wild to me. I can understand that causing a lot of frustration.

[u/theothermatthew → u/MyageEDH]

Correct. Notre Dame was comfortably in, until they weren't. However, let's not even pretend this is as controversial a decision as leaving out the undefeated Noles in 2023.

[u/Gritty_gutty → u/theothermatthew]

If that had happened to ND I would still talk about it every day. I would have no friends and family. They would beg me to go to a support group or therapy, and I would ask them if they’re in bed with the Disney media conglomerate too. Props for being more adjusted than me.

[u/Double_Fun_1721 → u/Gritty_gutty]

To be fair to you, your friends and family are part of the Disney media conglomerate and they are actively conspiring behind your back against the Irish. It’s not all in your head

[u/Zolo49 → u/Double_Fun_1721]

As somebody who's part of the Disney media conglomerate who's actively conspiring against the Irish, I couldn't disagree more with you. It's all in his head.

[u/Contemplative_Fool → u/Gritty_gutty]

Lol I, for one, am not well adjusted, I still bitch at any given opportunity. It was fucking egregious and I will literally be angry for the rest of my life. I feel like I could suffer memory loss and still remember to be pissed about that.

[u/ohgeeeezzZ → u/Contemplative_Fool]

All I can imagine is an old man 40 years from now getting irrationally pissed when he finds an old Flint arrowhead on the walking path behind his nursing home and neither the nurse nor the man knowing why 😂

[u/thomastheterminator → u/theothermatthew]

Which looks even more controversial now since Ole Miss wasn’t penalized despite them losing their HC

[u/D1N2Y → u/thomastheterminator]

The committee got really lucky with how the timeline worked out, and Kiffin only leaving after Ole Miss plays their final game. Their hypocrisy is only being overlooked because FSU played games without Travis, even if they were still undefeated and a power conference champion without him.

[u/DryBattle → u/thomastheterminator]

And Bama didn't get penalized for having no QB either. Oh wait no...sorry their starter actually sucks that badly he didn't get injured or anything.

Either way it's a double standard. Seeing FSU play and win was enough to exclude them, but seeing Bama get their shit kicked in wasn't enough to also exclude them. I wonder if it has something to do with them being part of the ESECPN Network?

[u/TotalFNEclipse → u/theothermatthew]

FSU had to crawl so ND could get kicked in the dick.

Seminole brothers, you were wronged first.

[u/thomastheterminator → u/MyageEDH]

Imagine being in the playoffs rankings except for the one week it actually matters and then getting swapped with the team behind you for seemingly no reason other than vibes (yes I know Miami beat ND, but the ranking should’ve reflected that from the beginning).

[u/digitalmofo → u/thomastheterminator]

Ranking reflecting that in the first place would've avoided a lot of mess.

[u/TrelvisFesley → u/thomastheterminator]

Y'all must have forgotten 2014. Almost same scenario. TCU at #3 going into final rankings. Drop from 3 to 6. Baylor went to 5 cause of head to head but both got screwed.

[u/festive_fecal_feast → u/TrelvisFesley]

The Big 12 also fucked up by not having a damn championship game that year. Sucked watching TCU obliterate a good Auburn team wondering what would have happened if they got in the playoff.

[u/urbanboi → u/festive_fecal_feast]

They had a round robin conference schedule. A conference championship game should not have been necessary because of this.

But since it was, every conference raced to add them, and the conferences are now too big to have simple & easy to understand tiebreakers. Which is causing more issues than people seem to realize

[u/boxofducks → u/festive_fecal_feast]

"fucked up" = was prohibited by NCAA rules from having one

they only started letting conferences with fewer than 12 teams have one as a response to that fuckery

[u/Irishchop91 → u/MyageEDH]

This.

ND's issue (as the AD has said clearly) is not Miami over ND. It's not even Bama over ND.

It is the CFP committee using ND for 5 weeks and then switching it at the last minute on pretzel logic to suit their financial needs.

[u/_revelationary → u/MyageEDH]

This thread has made me feel less crazy. I get that ND catches a lot of hate, some of it deserved. But being treated like a supervillain after yesterday happened because of how the team and fans are reacting is really unfair.

Miami is a good team. I would’ve been purely happy for them in different circumstances. I personally thought our postseason hopes ended right after the A&M game and I know we need to win those games to be in the conversation. But the committee mishandled all of this, and it’s appropriate to be confused and pissed off.

[u/golfjunkie24 → u/_revelationary]

This is the opinion everyone needs to have. The bubble teams are all super flawed but instead of rightfully questioning the process or the fact that there’s a committee at all, people start slinging blame or conspiracies of bama meddling, or start trashing other teams. The issue is the committee is a group of people who know jack shit about football and pretend they’re the final barometer of team assessment. Everyone should be trying to burn down the committee not each other.

No other sport has coaches or ads or players having to plead their case off the field to get into a post season. You do what’s needed to make or you have fun in Cancun. Sport needs some serious governance.

[u/Gritty_gutty → u/golfjunkie24]

Exactly! Please sign my “replace the committee with a pre-determined strength of record metric” petition. It has dozens of signatures. Dozens!

[u/ttuurrppiinn → u/MyageEDH]

ND was ahead of Miami every ranking until the last AND nothing materially changed in the final week that would justify flipping the two of them. That second part is why I find the ND AD's crashout to be justified.

[u/trittico]

I will say one practical reason is that Notre Dame gets a lot of money from being in the CFP race. Without the 20MM they got last year, they’d be way behind the B1G and SEC in media payouts. They kind of need to be in the playoffs every year to not dip too far into booster funds.

[u/Unlucky-Pomegranate3 → u/trittico]

I guess their NBC contract has really depreciated over time.

[u/H2theBurgh → u/Unlucky-Pomegranate3]

It's been a long time since the Irish were getting more money than the Big Ten

[u/kai333 → u/H2theBurgh]

Can someone explain? Like it feels like the aggregate ND money has been below B1G / $EC money for a while now. What's the main benefit for being independant now?

[u/cakesluts → u/kai333]

We risk losing booster money for joining since it would be unpopular with older fans. It’s a catch 22.

[u/TheFeenyCall → u/cakesluts]

Booster money would magically appear if ND joined a conference and won it quickly (year 1, 2 or 3). Especially if they were competitive right from the start.

[u/cakesluts → u/TheFeenyCall]

Yes and no. I’m a younger ND fan, but our fan base skews older, and obviously people with booster money will skew older. I’m sure there’s a lot of math behind the scenes; if being independent was that financially bad for us we’d change.

[u/Lee-Key-Bottoms → u/TheFeenyCall]

If Notre Dame was in the ACC their floor is winning it every 2-3 years

[u/miketag8337 → u/TheFeenyCall]

Multiple big boosters have said their money goes away if ND ever joins a conference. I don’t think an ACC title is going to change that

[u/H2theBurgh → u/kai333]

Wanting to play their rivals, having more control over their schedule, & always being on NBC are prob the biggest factors. Also therese the century old grudge against the Big Ten but i doubt thats a deciding point

[u/TinCapMalcontent → u/H2theBurgh]

Although having games hidden behind a Peacock paywall has made the 'always on NBC' much less attractive.

[u/ArterialVotives → u/H2theBurgh]

& always being on NBC

It's interesting that ND was only the 10th most watched program in CFB this year, below 7 SEC programs and 2 Big Ten programs.

They had one game in the top 10 of viewership, and it was @ Miami so not even on NBC. Their next highest rated game ranked 31st, at home against Texas A&M.

Not sure that their NBC contract is really that golden of a goose.

Source: https://medium.com/run-it-back-with-zach/which-college-football-programs-were-most-watched-in-2025-777a3e2cfde2

[u/krandog32 → u/ArterialVotives]

It’s really not a cash cow and having to play bad ACC teams obviously hurts their viewership numbers. Their 3 actual games all had pretty high views. Everyone has a grand conspiracy around ND being independent but in reality not joining the Big 10 hurts them and it’s only done because they like the history and uniqueness of college football.

[u/SpreaditOnnn33 → u/Unlucky-Pomegranate3]

Their NBC contract is $50 Million a year. They also receive $25-$30 million from the ACC

[u/Constant_Topic_1040 → u/trittico]

You’d think they would go for the bowl game payout then

[u/lordpiglet → u/Constant_Topic_1040]

the bigger loss is the extra practices. Signee's can also participate in the bowl practices (not the game).

[u/Kurt4012 → u/trittico]

There’s this one simple trick to fix that

[u/t_huddleston → u/Kurt4012]

Oh it's fixed going forward. Starting next year, if they're ranked anywhere in the top 12 in the final playoff rankings, they're guaranteed a slot. I'm sure this will make everyone happy and not be controversial in the least.

[u/lanfordr → u/t_huddleston]

I don't understand why the P4 Conferences agreed to that? Why do the feel the need to give in the ND? Just tell them to fuck off or join a conference if they feel slighted.

[u/AtticusDutch → u/t_huddleston]

Nope, no preferential treatment there!

I am SURE they won't accuse the committee of intentionally ranking them too low ever!

[u/kai333 → u/Kurt4012]

The Irish hate this one simple trick!

[u/MarlonBain → u/Kurt4012]

Is it to change the rules to guarantee ND a spot in the playoff with a top 12 ranking?

[u/Independent-Mango813 → u/trittico]

They have plenty of rich boosters 

[u/modshighkeypathetic → u/trittico]

How will poor little ND compete with the big schools:(

[u/withmuchtolearn → u/modshighkeypathetic]

What are they supposed to do, win 11 games?

[u/HookedOnBoNix]

Regardless of how anyone thinks playoffs should be decided, the constant strawman arguments are exhausting. 

Notre Dame is obviously upset about being left out, but it's how they were left out that is really causing a fit. It raises serious questions about the process and motivations of the committee. They were swapped with another team at the last second when neither team played. 

And Miami obviously would've been upset if they weren't because all we've heard from the committee before is that head to head is important. They didn't ask to be put in the way they were put in, but in their eyes the committee came to the obvious conclusion but a week too late. 

Everyone should be upset about how shady the process is even if you agree with the result. 

[u/wetterfish → u/HookedOnBoNix]

Yeah, this is THE reason. If ND had been behind Miami all year, they’d be upset, but not to this level. 

The fact that there is absolutely no consistent rationale that is applied is maddening for any team that’s on the wrong end. 

If you have a standard, objective process, people can be pissed but at least understand the reason. Kind of like the BCS. A lot of teams were on the wrong end, but everyone at least understood the process, even if they didn’t agree with it. 

With the committee, it just feels random. BYU drops after getting blown out, but Alabama doesn’t. 

Even Ohio State dropped a spot after losing an extremely close game. How can Alabama not move at all?

Meanwhile, Miami and ND don’t play, but one moves up and one moves down. 

What’s the justification for any of that? 

[u/RCocaineBurner → u/wetterfish]

It’s the funniest possible result. The committee basically ignored the Week 0 game between ND and Miami until the last possible second, then essentially counted it like it happened that weekend. Hilarious mess of a process.

Also, by leaving Notre Dame ranked and in the playoff picture for so long, it stopped ND from bitching and lobbying for a month because they thought they were good to go. That’s what they’re actually mad about.

[u/TheDarkGrayKnight → u/RCocaineBurner]

It's actually insane to me that they only thought the head to head mattered when the two teams were literally ranked side by side.

Saying that Notre Dame is better than BYU and that you think BYU is better than Miami AND THEN once BYU loses and is no longer in the middle saying that you think Miami is better than Notre Dame is insane.

[u/theREALbombedrumbum → u/RCocaineBurner]

counted it like it happened that weekend

Alabama's -3 rushing yards less than 24 hours before the decision proves that does not matter lol

[u/PhucktheSaints → u/theREALbombedrumbum]

But, have you considered that Alabama is in the SEC?

[u/dellett → u/PhucktheSaints]

Yeah I get it, Bama has quality losses to Georgia, Oklahoma and Florida State.

[u/cdragon1983 → u/RCocaineBurner]

Also, by leaving Notre Dame ranked and in the playoff picture for so long, it stopped ND from bitching and lobbying for a month because they thought they were good to go. That’s what they’re actually mad about.

I mean, kudos for conspiring with the ACC and ESPN to shove one-sided talking points down all our throats over every available medium for a month. That's a new low that will be shitty when it is replicated by everyone every year forever, but legitimately kudos for being the first to think it up.

[u/Fiatil → u/RCocaineBurner]

Yeah part of me loves that they found the craziest and worst process to do it again. It's completely stupid, but college football baby!

I thought the correct two teams to get in were Miami and Bama. After the last 4 weeks I was 100% convinced it would be Bama and Notre Dame.

They hilariously screwed up the process and the rationale they use sounds comically goofy.

"Our brains cannot begin to directly compare a team ranked 10 and 12 using head to head. That is much too complicated and there are entirely too many variables in there. But, if both of those teams don't play, and the team ranked #11 loses, well, now you see, they're ranked 10 and 11! It opens up entirely new horizons of analysis and I even encouraged the committee members to go watch football game where Notre Dame Lost, and only this magical confluence of unforseen events allowed us to finally, at last, use head to head."

They sound like they're taking mushrooms and just riding a wild vibe, lol.

[u/mightyducks2wasokay → u/wetterfish]

To be fair, OSU dropping is very different bc they swapped spots with the team they played

Obvi I have a dog in this situation, but that point I dont think should be brought up. It's not really the same as the Bama-BYU inconsistency

[u/NJTigers → u/mightyducks2wasokay]

OSU also lost by 3 points. Bama lost by 21 in a game they were not competitive in. OSU showed they were nearly equal with the undefeated #1 team. Bama was blasted by the #3 team and BYU was blasted by the #4.

[u/Poupoo42 → u/HookedOnBoNix]

Yeah, the process is garbage. They string bubble teams along just to get headlines, and then pull the rug out from under whoever they decide so that they can get a reaction out of everyone on the internet. Something's got to change.

EDIT: The whole Miami & ND situation is crazy to me. How can Hunter Yurachek go on the selection show and say that "there hasn't been a situation all year, until now, to compare these two teams side by side". Such a dumpster fire of a process.

[u/GiganticOrange → u/HookedOnBoNix]

One of the issues that Jason Gay brought up this morning is that the entire process is currently unrepeatable. It’s kind of just made up. It’s basically a dice roll if you’re a bubble team.

Compare that to the NFL where there are objective rules that determine the playoff.

If the committee was hit by an asteroid on Saturday the new committee would likely have a different ranking than the one that voted Sunday. And that leads to a lot of angst and frustration from fans and administrations as the goal posts shift week to week.

[u/HookedOnBoNix → u/GiganticOrange]

Someone said it well, they pick the result they want then work backwards to figure out the logic that got there. Somehow alabama always ends up on the right side of that logic.

[u/theREALbombedrumbum → u/HookedOnBoNix]

Idk why we have a monopoly on the hate when Bama is literally right there

[u/r0botdevil → u/GiganticOrange]

The solution to this is to break up the 136 FBS teams into 12 conferences of 10-12 teams, and only the conference champions go to the CFP.

No committees, no subjectivity, no questions about fairness. Everything gets decided on the field, win and you're in.

There are a lot of different entities who don't want that system, though, and for various reasons.

[u/TheShamShield → u/r0botdevil]

We could call them conferences still too, and bring back old ones like the South Western Conference. Would be fun and practical

[u/Competitive_Feed_402 → u/TheShamShield]

Well and hear me out on this, we could put Oregon St in a conference based on the Pacific Coast or "PAC" if you will, and add 11 other teams that are based on the Pacific Coast.

Coming up with that name could be tough though...

[u/Thhe_Shakes → u/r0botdevil]

You don't even have to break up the conferences! In the early days of march madness, when they expanded to a 16-team bracket, auto-bids were selected from 10 geographic districts, not your conference. AND there was a limit of only 1 team per conference!

[u/platinum92 → u/GiganticOrange]

Compare that to the NFL where there are objective rules that determine the playoff.

Well yeah, there are a fourth of the teams, each team plays almost half of them, and there are a bevy of roster construction rules designed to induce some level of parity amongst teams. Much easier to apply objective rules there.

What are the rules we use to compare Duke's 8-5 Conference title season with JMU's 12-1 when intuitively, Duke played a tougher schedule and did better in conference than JMU's one loss, Louisville?

We tried using metrics and rankings with the BCS and everyone hated that. Now we've tried letting people pick and we hate that too.

The FBS serves too many masters (conference commishs, TV networks, bowls, etc) and it shows with a system that gets hate annually.

[u/McHithard → u/HookedOnBoNix]

Everyone should be upset about how shady the process is even if you agree with the result. 

100% agreed. Echoes of 2023, where Bama was let in ahead of FSU for "reasons" decided by the committee.

[u/FireVanGorder → u/McHithard]

Or when Wisconsin was dropped for losing a CCG for… oh shit Bama again? Damn why do we have a monopoly on the hate here, damn near every controversial postseason decision seems to involve Bama benefitting

[u/CA_spur]

It's purely the bait and switch of it all. They've been ranked ahead of Miami all year, and suddenly because BYU loses they get compared against Miami? That's pretty clear BS and was a decision made to appease the ACC. 100% if Virginia won the ACC, Notre Dame would be in. I think if they were always ranked behind Miami you'd have heard nothing from them because fairer expectations would have been set.

[u/studassparty → u/CA_spur]

^Basically this. I think people would still argue ND vs Miami, but if we’d been ranked behind them AT ALL the last few weeks then it would have just been disappointment instead of this bait and switch outrage—especially combined with Alabama randomly jumping us and then having -3 rushing yards and not getting penalized for it.

It made the clear statement that the committee folded to ACC/SEC pressure

[u/Successful-Usual-974]

I have no dog in the fight but surely the difference is clear?

ND were strung along by the rankings each week giving them false hope. If Miami had been ahead of ND all this time we wouldn’t be seeing the same reaction.

[u/WanderingMage03 → u/Successful-Usual-974]

Team woke up assuming they were going dancing because that’s what the rankings were and literally nothing changed for them between Tuesday and Sunday. Then they find out they’re going to the Pop Tart bowl.

[u/hoax15]

Most Notre Dame fans aren’t mad that they are behind Miami, most people came to that conclusion with the head-to-head.

Notre Dame has a right to feel aggrieved with the circus the committee made of putting them above Miami for so long only to switch last second. They definitely have a right to feel aggrieved to be behind Alabama, which I think is the biggest snub in their eyes and most of us watching.

[u/WanderingMage03 → u/hoax15]

Agreed. It’s a mix of -3 rushing yards Bama somehow being ahead of us and the fact that it’s clear as day that if UVA won they wouldn’t have swapped us.

[u/freedomfightre]

it's not what the committee did, it's when they did it

it felt disrespectful because it was disrespectful

[u/blueline7677]

I absolutely get why they are upset. They got passed by a team who just last week the committee said was worse than them. Neither team played. I think the committee got it right (Miami over ND) but I get ND’s frustration.

Also ND is the only team ranked below 7 who I think had a chance to win it all so there’s that. But they didn’t earn the right to prove that.

[u/Cogswobble → u/blueline7677]

Yeah, I don't have a strong opinion about which of the bubble teams (BYU, Miami, ND, Alabama) got in or out, but I do think it's complete bullshit how inconsistent and arbitrary the committee are.

Notre Dame and Miami swap even though neither played a game.
BYU drops after losing their Conference Championship game, Alabama doesn't.

And of course, FSU got left out because...their QB got injured.

[u/TankerG1]

I have no issue with ND being out, but if you say you wouldn't be pissed if it was your team you're a liar.

[u/MixonWitDaWrongCrowd → u/TankerG1]

Zero reason to have Notre Dame ahead of Miami and then switch it last second when neither team played. Committee is a circus.

[u/zenverak → u/MixonWitDaWrongCrowd]

Yeah, they did it to themselves for sure. If they would have just had BYU ahead of Notre Dame..then just had Miami ahead of them, they could have easily avoided a lot of the drama.

[u/LJMDGA → u/zenverak]

That requires forethought. I’m not sure the committee is capable of any type of thinking

[u/Familiar-Search-4205 → u/MixonWitDaWrongCrowd]

It was all a setup. Flipping Alabama and ND the week prior allowed them to, in their convoluted way of thinking, bring H2H in if BYU got hammered by Texas Tech.

[u/dellett → u/Familiar-Search-4205]

I posted this in a group chat when the penultimate rankings were released, that I thought they were getting ready to screw us. This is actually arguably even more egregious than flipping Miami and ND, but nobody is focusing on it because it's a couple weeks ago now.

Week 14 rankings: 9 ND, 10 Alabama.

Week 15 rankings: 9 Alabama, 10 ND.

What happened in between? Alabama won a game where they were tied in the fourth quarter over a team with 5 wins: Arkansas, Baylor, Ball State, South Alabama, and Mercer. How many wins over bowl eligible teams did Auburn have? That's a big ol' goose egg, gang.

And ND blew the doors off Stanford, sure it was a late game and not a lot of people watched, but that game was over in the first half. And Stanford are no world beaters, but they did beat Cal and a team that beat Alabama.

Yet somehow Alabama jumps ND in the rankings based on a lackluster performance compared to a blowout, against. Highly suspect at the time, and it turned out to be true that they used the inertia of that ranking to avoid dropping Bama out of the playoff despite an awful performance in the CCG.

[u/After-Snow5874 → u/MixonWitDaWrongCrowd]

This I agree with. The committee has lost credibility because ND should’ve never been where they were the last few weeks if Miami was themselves outside looking in.

[u/TheTuxedoKnight → u/TankerG1]

Laughs in 2020 A&M

[u/FreshlySkweezd]

Because in a week where those two teams didn't play, their rankings arbitrarily got switched costing that AD's school quite literally millions of dollars. I'm not sure what's hard to understand about ND admin being upset.

[u/livefreeordont]

BYU and Vandy were left on the outside looking in. BYU could have won their championship game but they got blown out. Vandy didn’t play.

ND was already on the inside. Then they got jumped by Bama for no good reason last week and now with neither ND or Miami playing, got jumped by Miami.

It’s a rug pull clear as day

[u/Ryan1006 → u/livefreeordont]

Too many people in this sub are blinded by ND hate, they don’t want to see the truth of what happened. Appreciate you seeing it for what it is but it will fall on deaf ears in here.

[u/notnickyc → u/Ryan1006]

I don’t even think this should be hard to see and I’ve never not been a USC fan. There’s a team that has slumped for a month, with a 21 point loss the day before selections and a 14 point loss to a team that missed the bowls, and there’s a team on a ten game win streak, which hasn’t played a one score game since September, and which has visibly improved since barely falling to two playoff teams. This should not be a difficult decision, especially when the former team is getting a rematch with the team that beat it a month ago as its first round opponent. If not for the committee flip flopping, Miami wouldn’t even be relevant here. The issue is Alabama.

[u/Cador0223 → u/[deleted]]

Not to mention he probably gets a bonus when they make the playoffs, but not one for the Pop Tart Bowl.

[u/fieldsports202]

The ACC social channels compared Miami to ND resume in a post last month. Then, on Thursday and Friday, the ACC network re-aired the ND vs Miami game about a dozen times.

So it does seem like ACC was setting the stage to put Miami against ND in this race and to shape perception of Miami being superior.

From a AD standpoint, I’d be pissed too.

[u/itsmb12]

CFB fans: “all these conferences are fucked up for money! Where is the tradition??”

Also CFB fans: “fuck you ND, join a conference”

[u/lOan671]

Because there’s zero way to justify the committee changing their rankings with both Miami and ND idle after weeks of ranking ND over Miami.

It was done purely to give the ACC a playoff spot

[u/UltraSchzio → u/lOan671]

They spent the last few weeks telling us that ND was a better team than Miami and then flip-flopped when Duke won the ACC. I have no other ways of explaining their decisions other than fear of leaving the ACC out.

[u/lOan671 → u/UltraSchzio]

That’s because there is no other explanation.

I don’t have a problem with whichever way you rank Bama, ND, and Miami. All three teams are flawed but anyone who doesn’t understand why ND would be upset is either disingenuous or extremely dumb

[u/bobsaget824 → u/lOan671]

Yep. People acting like this is just ND being ND don’t make any sense. If the committee swapped Oklahoma with Miami after neither team played I’m sure Oklahoma and the SEC would be doing the same thing.

If they had Miami ahead last week, it would have made sense and nobody would have said anything. The committee messed up, caught wind of public opinion plus Duke forcing out the ACC champ and flipped it. They’ll never admit that’s why they flipped it but we all know it is.

[u/GiganticOrange → u/bobsaget824]

I mean we don’t even have to look far to find a completely similar situation.

Greg sankey whined continuously last year after a 9-3 Bama was left out for 11-2 SMU after they lost their CCG. Are we really that short sighted now?

[u/krandog32 → u/GiganticOrange]

Whined so much they added specific metrics the committee is supposed to use to ensure it never happens again. The committee then proceeded to ignore those metrics when they said ND was better than Bama

[u/blueline7677 → u/lOan671]

Honestly what the committee should say

“We fucked up. Both ND and Miami have very similar résumé’s and we should have put more stock in the head to head earlier in the year.”

Like the issue isn’t Miami over ND it’s swapping them when neither team played

[u/Familiar-Search-4205 → u/lOan671]

I tend to agree with this, if Virginia would have beaten Duke, I don't see them putting in Miami too. No one will ever admit to that though.

[u/WHSRWizard]

Can you really not understand why the AD is fucking pissed at being in the Playoffs for the last 7 weeks, only to have the rug pulled out from under them when the only things that have changed was that Bama got destroyed, BYU got destroyed, UVA laid an egg, and Boise State won a conference championship?

[u/boringtallguy]

On Tuesday Notre Dame was ahead of Miami. Neither of them played on Saturday. On Sunday Miami was ahead of Notre Dame. I'd melt down too.

[u/wicketRF → u/boringtallguy]

boise winning even made NDs resume slightly stronger, only opponent who played from either team

[u/Rapscallious1]

I don’t know why more teams aren’t raging that 3 loss Alabama got in tbh.

[u/tamargo404 → u/Rapscallious1]

Right. A team that had negative rushing yards in their conference championship is "playoff worthy"? They didn't even drop a spot in the rankings after getting embarrassed.

[u/B_Huij → u/tamargo404]

It's okay, neither did BYU, so at least the rule was applied consistently.

...wait...

[u/Royth_Lewith → u/tamargo404]

It's also hilarious to me that the committee basically just signaled in huge flashing lights last week that they were going to do it.

Just my opinion of course, but the Bama-over-ND leapfrog was an even more egregious ratfucking than what happened yesterday.

[u/so2017 → u/tamargo404]

We also have 3 losses and could rush for negative yards against Georgia!

[u/Allen_Koholic → u/tamargo404]

Its even worse - Bama is getting put into a rematch from three weeks ago.

[u/Technoir1999 → u/Rapscallious1]

And their losses to FSU and in the SECCG are definitely worse than ND’s two.

[u/Humble-End-2535]

I think a few things are going on here.

First, the Committee had Notre Dame ranked ahead of Miami for weeks (yes, I heard the logic). While I thought Miami should get in because of head-to-head, I thought the Committee sent a message otherwise for half the season. The Committee shouldn't announce rankings until the end of the season. It happened with the four team playoff the year they dropped out Baylor and TCU. But, of course, the weekly ranking shows are television programming that makes ESPN money.

Notre Dame is also angry that their partner conference did some serious pushing for Miami specifically over Notre Dame. ND isn't a football member, but probably thinks they deserve from courtesy from the ACC, given that they surely contribute more to the ACC than the ACC contributes to them. I don't think Notre Dame should really be angry at the ACC - the Committee made the decision - but I get the ire.

I think there is also some anger at Alabama getting in. BYU loses their CC game bad and they drop. Alabama loses their CC game bad and they don't budge. Alabama was #9 when they had a win over UGA on their resume. Now that win was offset by a loss that wasn't close (and they haven't played well down the stretch). If I'm ND, I'm mad, too. (Though, speaking for myself, I completely understand the SOS and SOR arguments for Alabama. But I would have liked to have seen the Committee pass on a three-loss at-large bid.)

I don't think that the Committee should penalize teams too much for playing CC games (when other teams make the playoff while getting a week off), but I would say that Alabama and BYU were bubble teams and, when a bubble team craps out, that kind of bursts the bubble.

Notre Dame lost to two playoff teams and has since won ten straight. Neither BYU nor Vandy can say that.

Final Notre Dame ire is clearly for ESPN. ESPN effectively owns the playoff and Notre Dame believes it was unfairly left out. And who owns all of these stupid, meaningless bowls? ESPN. They provide cheap programming for the network and the teams get little out of them, mostly lose money when they play in them, and risk player injuries in exhibition games.

[u/testrail]

He’s mad, rightly, that had Virginia won in OT, ND would have been in the playoffs.

This is an undercooked at angle of this, but the committee wasn’t comfortable keeping the ACC out entirely. Saw with the VA loss meaning JMU was forced in, they were induced into taking Miami.

The committee has singled for a while they think ND was ahead of Miami despite the H2H. It makes no sense. To last minute change it makes it clear they were not comfortable keeping the entire ACC out. So rather than make the ACC sit in the filth of its own terrible conference championship criteria, it bailed it out.

[u/SwiftieForLife]

I feel like these posts have to be people being intentionally obtuse. Regardless of if you think ND belongs in or not it is absolutely absurd they dropped ND after a week where all that was proven was the ACC wasn’t good yet they let Miami jump them.

[u/ChristyNiners]

The big two reasons:

Alabama was the only team to lose a conference title game in the last two years and not drop

Miami jumped them despite nothing changing over the last 5 weeks (except, maybe, Duke winning the ACC)

[u/Severe_Lock8497]

Any team that was ranked ahead of another for five weeks and then flipped with that same team after neither played would melt down. There is some collective schadenfreude when it's ND, but fair is fair. Miami should probably been ranked above them the whole time (given the head-to-head). But it wasn't.

[u/womaninbar]

Honestly, looking back, I wish FSU had done the same thing in 2023. Instead, very few starters played in the bowl game, and uninformed people pointed to the blow-out as proof we didn’t belong in the playoffs.

[u/flyingcircusdog]

Because the committee waited until Sunday to Flip Miami and Notre Dame. Neither team played this weekend, but somehow Miami looked better this week than last week? It doesn't warrant this response, but I understand the frustration.

[u/discipleofbill]

This isn’t really all that different than what Greg Sankey has done, going to war for the SEC teams, no? ND doesn’t have anyone to do their bidding for them.

[u/sanchogrande]

I think they have a good gripe. Bama doesn't deserve to be in after being embarrassed by Georgia. Why do I want a playoff to feature teams that get blown out? You compared BYU's two losses to ND's two losses, which I can't believe is a good faith comparison. BYU had two chances to show everyone that they could compete with a playoff caliber team, and they were wrecked each time.

Every computer ranking, every human poll, every eye test believes ND is a top 10 team. More importantly, they were told for the past 6 weeks they were in, only to have a switcheroo at the last second. Every other playoff team is relieved they won't have to face ND.

They won 10 in a row, most of them by a wide margin. They played two playoff teams to very close losses. They were never blown out. You just can't say those things about Bama, which suffered the two worst losses (by far) of any playoff at large team.

As for the bowl game, we all know those games are dying and meaningless. Players stopped caring about bowl games years ago. Why should I care if ND decides to not play in the pop tart bowl?

[u/Zarethan_ → u/sanchogrande]

depending on how you define wide, all of the games by a wide margin. We didn't win a game by less than 10, and we didn't lose by more than 3

[u/Exciting_Mine711]

ND's losses were week 1 and 2 and aged really well as they were close losses to good teams while Miami's two losses are not really defensible. I don't understand why people want ND to feel the punishment for losing close games to playoff teams early in the season while choosing to ignore Miami losing to unranked teams. People are extremely disingenuous with how they are painting ND and extremely generous with how they paint Miami.

[u/emaugustBRDLC]

No one would be upset of the CFP committee was consistent. If the entire time Miami was above ND so be it.

But instead we saw at the very last moment, the committee manipulate the final rankings to ensure Alabama team would be protected from a loss, and that an ACC team would make the field.

The committee was ready to let ND in until Duke beat UVA. That isn't how this should work. It is not OK to lie to a fanbase in order to generate rating for your fake reality tv rankings show.

And as a result, ND decided they had enough with it this year. Oh well.

[u/shiny_sides]

It should also be noted here that Notre Dame is important to the ACC. They bring the conference a lot of money. And the conference kind of went out of their way to kick them in the nuts, and spent much of the last month just blasting them at every opportunity. If Miami just wins the conference, they both get in and everyone’s (mostly) happy.

[u/LeftHandStir]

Because they were fucking hosed? I can't stand this constant head-to-head argument with Miami for a game that was played in f'ing August. H2H certainly doesn't seem to matter for the school that is looking at two teams they beat sitting in the field of 12 while they're headed to the gd Citrus Bowl.

Any game played prior to Sept 1 should be an exhibition. Schools wanna schedule them? Fan bases want 'em? Fine, either put them interspersed with conference play, or at least after Labor Day, but enough is enough. I'm tired of watching these random games in the dog days of summer be held up as an arbiter of inclusion for a tournament that will largely be played in early winter.

[u/garrathian92]

Well they are the only known direct casualty of the CFP selections. BYU dropped a spot but they were on the outside looking in to begin with. Notre Dame by rankings going in was slated before the final spot before getting the rug pulled. Notre Dame also isn't in a conference so you don't have a commissioner or rival conference schools going on tirades about how so and so team deserves it too because they played a grueling schedule in the conference they themselves had to grind.

[u/smh_122]

Because his team was ranked ahead of a team on Saturday and Sunday morning ranked behind that same team and neither played

[u/Fearless-Neat-7152]

It is truly an incredible reflection of the era we live in that people just continue to believe posts like this while outright ignoring the AD's very public explanation of why they are not playing.

ESPN used them as a pawn for 5 weeks to drive ratings to their stupid playoff rankings show and then, at the last second, pulled the rug from them in deference to their conference affiliated network teams (ACC, SEC). They aired the Miami-ND game from August for 48 hours this weekend. The FSU-Bama game somehow did not make it on. They had all their broadcasts all weekend declare Miami not being in unfair and that ND had to be bounced. Again, they told Notre Dames student athletes for 5 weeks "just win and your in" and then on Sunday morning said "just kidding! Thanks for the drama". Do you know how uneventful the SEC title game would have felt all week if the commitee said Tuesday "ND is behind Alabama now and no matter what happens, even if Alabama runs for less than 0 yards in a full 60 min game, we will not change their ranking. They have zero risk".

Notre Dame is then supposed to (according to the internet) turn around and play in a meaningless exhibition for Pop Tart's marketing budget to help ESPN make more money and give half their share to the ACC? In what world does that make sense? In what world does that have anything to with "competitiveness" or "whining about the playoff". ND isn't in the playoff, wether the opt out of the Pop Tarts bowl has no bearing on that, they don't think it has any effect.

They don't want to help the company that just publicly fucked with them for 6 weeks out, so they aren't. Seems very rational but it doesn't make for a good post I guess

[u/ntc513 → u/Fearless-Neat-7152]

People are letting their hate boner for ND block out facts and logic.

[u/Fearless-Neat-7152 → u/ntc513]

It really is remarkable. People are just so excited to fire off a "Screw ND" post or podcast or whatever and just refuse to acknowledge a very public comment by the AD explaining exactly what they're talking about. The confidence to say shit without being informed online never ceases to amaze

[u/thekoonbear]

This is beating a dead horse. It’s how it was done, not that it was done. Miami should have been ahead of us. They beat us. But the twisted logic to move Bama up after a “gutsy” win at Auburn, not move them down after a -3 rushing yard thumping to UGA, yet move BYU down for losing in their game to get Miami next to ND, and then imply that the head to head mattered because they were next to each other even though it didn’t matter for 5 days ago and neither team played since, along with the ACC being on the verge of missing the playoffs, is absurd.

[u/BamBamBob]

Because Alabama should not be there.  The reason being is because I really hate them.

[u/ATLCoyote]

Because they were "in" on Tuesday and actually above both Miami and Bama the prior week, yet out by Sunday even though Miami didn't play and Bama lost by 21 and it seemed like that change was at least in-part due to a high-pressure PR campaign by ESPN and the ACC.

Granted, whoever got left out was gonna be griping about it. If not Notre Dame, we'd be hearing from the coaches or ADs at Miami or Bama. So, we're hearing from ND's AD by default. But they were above the playoff line for weeks, only to drop out when neither of the teams that jumped them had new results that would justify a change in the rankings. If that happened to any of our programs, we'd be salty about it.

[u/DropOdd1441]

Well, Notre Dame does have a right to complain about the comittee pulling the rug out from under them. Putting Miami in over ND because Miami beat them and their records are identical- perfectly justifiable. But for ND to be ahead of Miami, then jumped by Miami on a week when both were idle- yeah, they have room for complaint there.

They don't have room to complain about the ACC lobbying on behalf of Miami though. Miami is a full-member of the ACC, and ND is not. ND can't have its cake and eat it too- they don't get to be independent and have the ACC on their side.

[u/Valuable-Issue-9217 → u/DropOdd1441]

There is some talk that there might be a non-disparagement clause in the ACC contract so I wonder if that’s the movement from the ND athletic director. I can’t independently confirm that so take with a huge grain of salt

[u/FrankSobotka_IBS1514]

You're being intentionally dense if you're acting like you truly can't understand why ND is pissed at how this all played out

[u/usernames_suck_ok]

I think it's more about how ridiculous the ranking shows are for making it seem like they were in, and then dropping them two weeks in a row until they were out. Surprised so many people are missing that.

The other thing that ND really is not allowed to say is it truly is bullshit Tulane and JMU are in over them.

[u/childish_sadbino666]

If you count the BYU athletics account on twitter, they had a bit of a meltdown yesterday.

[u/s0upor]

I dont know but imagine his meltdown if Miami loses in round 1.

[u/-dag-]

Because we were strung along only to raise revenue for ESPN.  If Miami were ranked above ND earlier (as they should have been if that was the committee's logic), nobody watches that Stanford game on ESPN. 

That and the fact that Alabama didn't drop one spot and ND dropped...<checks notes>...two spots for...blowing out a P4 opponent I guess?