Here's a short highlight reel of that game which was exactly 1 year and 13 days ago. |
|
Agree that Notre Dame would have been a better opponent than Alabama, but the CFP selection process is not perfect.
Personally, I agree that conference membership should be a slight tip to a school over an independent if the independent put itself in essentially a tie for the final CFP slot. Why ? Because conference members benefit many schools via revenue sharing while the greedy independent takes all proceeds for itself. Notre Dame football elected to be part of the CFP system and even had a significant hand in designing the selection process. Essentially, Notre Dame football has bet the house on making the CFP playoff every year. If you disagree, wait & see what happens if Notre Dame football does not make the CFP next season. (Hint: Conference membership.) Not counting conference championship games, teams need to have just 2 or fewer losses to receive serious consideration for the CFP, By this standard, Notre Dame football would have been excluded from the CFP in 25 seasons out of the past 31 seasons. And Notre Dame football did not make the CFP this year with 2 losses so it would be 26 of the past 31 seasons if the CFP had been in existence since 1994. With larger conferences and more required conference games, teams will move away from scheduling Notre Dame as an opponent. If Notre Dame football refuses to accommodate traditional rivals, such as ND football's treatment of USC, Notre Dame football will become increasingly irrelevant. If Notre Dame football refuses to adjust to the rapidly changing major college football developments, ND football will be relegated to second tier status. |
A year and 13 days ago was a different season. The teams were massively different, as in several dozen players left each team and several dozen joined (including, in IU’s case, Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza and Rose Bowl offensive MVP Pat Coogan - thanks for him btw). I know ND fans love to live in the past but it isn’t relevant. |
Bingo ! Great point. |
With the MOU ND has where they are in the playoffs as long as they are in the top 12, they will be in. |
ND will adjust as needed. They will remain relevant because they have an enormous fanbase beyond ND alum. It's called the subway alum. and it is not going away. It is a generational alumni base that doesn't require attending the school. |
I have to LOL at any major entity relying on a MOU (memorandum of understanding). Many view MOU as aspirational, not contractual. If ND football is relying on an MOU as the basis for its independence, then ND football should be fielding conference membership offers from the ACC, Big Ten, and SEC if it wants to remain relevant. To be clear, an MOU (memorandum of understanding) is NOT binding. It is simply an aspirational outline. |
| Who’s happy that there will be no Ohio State, Alabama or Georgia in the semi-finals this year? |
| ND isn’t even in the playoffs |
The issue being discussed here is that they should be in the playoffs. Keep up. |
|
The fact that Notre Dame football and the CFP negotiations resulted in only an MOU suggests that the CFP views Notre Dame football as an irritant, and not as an equal, or even as a serious, matter of concern.
ND football is not so naive as to believe that an MOU is legally meaningful. To be blunt, an MOU isn't worth the paper that it's written on. One interpretation is that the CFP participated in the creation of an MOU in order to give ND football time to sober up and face reality, while also giving the SEC, the Big Ten, and ESPN time to decide whether or not dealing with Notre Dame football is worth the hassle. Judging by ND football's exclusion from the CFP this year, the Big Ten, the SEC,and ESPN have given Notre Dame football notice that they have had enough of dealing with Notre Dame football's independence. In short, the CFP is giving Notre Dame football time to realize that Notre Dame football's independence is a Notre Dame problem, and not a major concern of the rest of the college football world. |
| Notre Dame belongs in the B1G. Full stop. |
Most of us have concluded it was fine they weren't in the playoffs. It's just one ND obsessive who can't let it go. |
I think most agree they shouldn't have been and Miami was definitely now clearly the better choice. |
The issue is they won't do it because they would never make it back to the college playoffs. Fact. |