BAMANEWSBOT
Staff
People are talking, saying No. 7 Notre Dame has the best loss in college football this season, and those people are probably right. On the road, against undefeated defending national champion Florida State? By four points? After having the potential winning touchdown erased in the final seconds by a penalty that was, shall we say, interesting?
Brutal loss. Devastating. The best loss in college football? Yeah, sure. I can go there.
A loss worthy of a spot in the four-team playoff?
Nah. I can't go there. And more to the point, Notre Dame fans, don't expect the college football playoff selection committee to go there either. This isn't me being mean to Notre Dame. This is me stating an uncomfortable truth, trying to slow your roll before it crashes into the inevitable brick wall the selection committee will erect when it names the four playoff teams and doesn't, the way I see it going, utter the words "Notre Dame."
Look, things can and do change. Perhaps this season, trending toward crazy as it already is, will have a dearth not just of undefeated teams, but of one-loss teams. The SEC West will cannibalize itself eventually. The Pac-12 is another unforgiving gauntlet. And Notre Dame is clearly on the list of teams worth considering at this moment for the playoff.
This story right here isn't me saying to you: Notre Dame can't get into the playoff.
This story is me saying to you: If the loss to Florida State is the best argument Notre Dame has, then Notre Dame isn't getting into the playoff.
Notre Dame doesn't have any great wins. Or any good wins. In fact, if we're going to say something as unprovable as Notre Dame has the season's best loss — that 31-27 heartbreaker Saturday at Florida State, when an offensive pass interference called by the game's ACC officials nullified Notre Dame's winning TD — then let's say something equally unprovable but equally plausible on the other side:
Notre Dame has one of the worst wins of the season. The week before losing to great FSU, the Irish beat mediocre North Carolina by a single touchdown. At home. Where it allowed 43 points. And Notre Dame had to rally in the fourth quarter to win 50-43 against a UNC team that lost 70-41 earlier this season to East Carolina.
That's the worst of Notre Dame's six victories, one of the worst victories of the season for any team hoping to get into the four-team playoff. All told the Irish have beaten six teams, and just one has a winning record. And that team, Stanford, is 4-3.
But by season's end the Sun Devils could be the only ranked team Notre Dame has beaten. Louisville is 6-2 and could sneak into the poll later, though I doubt it. The Cardinals play host to FSU on Oct. 30, which figures to be a loss. Assuming they also lose to Notre Dame, that's a four-loss (at best) ACC team. Yet that would be one of Notre Dame's best wins all year.
None of this is Notre Dame's fault. As the most popular TV opponent in the country with a myriad of traditional rivals and a link to the ACC complicating things, the Irish has scheduling difficulties unlike any other. And this schedule was put together years ago, before anyone knew Michigan would stink and USC would be rebuilding and Stanford would be having its worst season in years. None of that is Notre Dame's fault, but all of it will matter when the selection committee considers the Irish's argument for the playoff.
Because when a team's best argument is a loss, that's no argument at all.
Brutal loss. Devastating. The best loss in college football? Yeah, sure. I can go there.
A loss worthy of a spot in the four-team playoff?
Nah. I can't go there. And more to the point, Notre Dame fans, don't expect the college football playoff selection committee to go there either. This isn't me being mean to Notre Dame. This is me stating an uncomfortable truth, trying to slow your roll before it crashes into the inevitable brick wall the selection committee will erect when it names the four playoff teams and doesn't, the way I see it going, utter the words "Notre Dame."
Look, things can and do change. Perhaps this season, trending toward crazy as it already is, will have a dearth not just of undefeated teams, but of one-loss teams. The SEC West will cannibalize itself eventually. The Pac-12 is another unforgiving gauntlet. And Notre Dame is clearly on the list of teams worth considering at this moment for the playoff.
This story right here isn't me saying to you: Notre Dame can't get into the playoff.
This story is me saying to you: If the loss to Florida State is the best argument Notre Dame has, then Notre Dame isn't getting into the playoff.
Notre Dame doesn't have any great wins. Or any good wins. In fact, if we're going to say something as unprovable as Notre Dame has the season's best loss — that 31-27 heartbreaker Saturday at Florida State, when an offensive pass interference called by the game's ACC officials nullified Notre Dame's winning TD — then let's say something equally unprovable but equally plausible on the other side:
Notre Dame has one of the worst wins of the season. The week before losing to great FSU, the Irish beat mediocre North Carolina by a single touchdown. At home. Where it allowed 43 points. And Notre Dame had to rally in the fourth quarter to win 50-43 against a UNC team that lost 70-41 earlier this season to East Carolina.
That's the worst of Notre Dame's six victories, one of the worst victories of the season for any team hoping to get into the four-team playoff. All told the Irish have beaten six teams, and just one has a winning record. And that team, Stanford, is 4-3.
But by season's end the Sun Devils could be the only ranked team Notre Dame has beaten. Louisville is 6-2 and could sneak into the poll later, though I doubt it. The Cardinals play host to FSU on Oct. 30, which figures to be a loss. Assuming they also lose to Notre Dame, that's a four-loss (at best) ACC team. Yet that would be one of Notre Dame's best wins all year.
None of this is Notre Dame's fault. As the most popular TV opponent in the country with a myriad of traditional rivals and a link to the ACC complicating things, the Irish has scheduling difficulties unlike any other. And this schedule was put together years ago, before anyone knew Michigan would stink and USC would be rebuilding and Stanford would be having its worst season in years. None of that is Notre Dame's fault, but all of it will matter when the selection committee considers the Irish's argument for the playoff.
Because when a team's best argument is a loss, that's no argument at all.
