Unless there was a game between Miami and Notre Dame played Saturday that no one saw, the College Football Playoff committee’s decision to flip those teams this week is the ultimate head-scratcher.
The bad luck of the Irish.
Unless there was a game between Miami and Notre Dame played Saturday that no one saw, the College Football Playoff committee’s decision to flip those teams this week is the ultimate head-scratcher.
Sure, Miami beat Notre Dame head-to-head in September, but why did it take until this week (when both teams were off) for Miami to jump Notre Dame in the rankings?
The only logical conclusion is that the committee didn’t want to completely shut out the ACC. So, when Duke beat Virginia in the ACC Championship game and the Sun Belt (James Madison) stole the ACC’s automatic bid, the committee backtracked to get Miami in over Notre Dame – and Notre Dame would’ve been in over Miami had Virginia held on to beat Duke.
The college football world was going to be outraged no matter which of the three bubble teams – Alabama, Notre Dame and Miami – was left out of the at-large field.
No one said it better than Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua.
“Any rankings or show prior to this last one is an absolute joke and a waste of time,” he told Yahoo Sports.
Here are other reactions to the Irish being the odd team out, including the sentiment that the Irish need to join a conference to avoid this happening in the future.
Former Notre Dame quarterback and Fox analyst Brady Quinn: “There wasn’t any logic waiting to move UM ahead of ND if Conf championship game outcomes are inconsequential.
