Why is Notre Dame a given for the playoffs?

[soonermade]

Notre Dame's only marquee win was against Michigan, 24-17, but since OSU just thumped Michigan, that win no longer looks very impressive.

On top of that, look at these close wins by Notre Dame and how they struggled against poor teams:

24-16 Ball State
22-17 Vanderbilt
19-14 Pitt
24-17 USC

See a pattern here? Change those teams to Okla State, Texas, TT, and WV and they would have some losses. Notre Dame is just as much overrated as Michigan!

No offense to speak of from the Domers. OU would have a field day with them.

Btw, Pitt just got embarrassed by a very bad Miami team.

If OU beats Texas, Clemson beats Pitt, and Bama barely beats Georgia or Georgia barely beats Bama and both make the playoffs, then the playoffs should be Bama, Clemson, Georgia, and OU.

Don't agree? Well, how do you think those games would be if you replace Notre Dame with OU?

OU vs Ball State
OU vs Vanderbilt
OU vs Pitt
OU vs USC

Would all of those games be close victories or would OU blow them out?

 

[CTOkie]

Only answer:
OU is 11-1.
ND is 12-0.

 

[soonermade]

Only answer:
OU is 11-1.
ND is 12-0.

That's no good because UCF is undefeated as well. IF OU thumps Texas (avenging their only loss), should OU's record have an asterisk?

12-1*

 

[veritas59]

They also blew out 12th ranked Syracuse, who played Clemson down to the wire before losing late. And they beat Northwestern, who's playing in the B1G championship this weekend. If it HAD been us playing their schedule and we went undefeated, we would be livid that anyone would challenge our worthiness. FSU, Stanford, USC, Va Tech weren't having down years when they were put on the schedule. Like it or not, they won all of their games. The only negative on their schedule is the lack of a CCG which, in my opinion, should be a tie-breaker and not a disqualifier when it comes to the playoff.

 

[soonermade]

Syracuse would have looked better if their starting QB wasn't knocked out of the game early. Northwestern doesn't look like a marquee win, but I do think they will upset OSU, mainly because of the emotional high OSU is coming off of beating their rival, who they have dominated for 8 years in a row. I think OSU's poor defense will show up again and Northwestern's defense will do a much better job than Michigan's overrated defense did.

If I'm right and OU beats Texas, then it won't matter about Notre Dame, but Ball State? Pitt? That's just ridiculous.

This is why there should be 8 teams in the playoffs, not 4, to end discussions like this. UCF would be in, and that would be a good thing, but not in a 4-team playoff because they do not play a hard enough regular season schedule to validate it.

 

[runningback43]

I didn't like this 4 team playoff when it was announced and I hate it even more now. The NCAA wanted to keep their bowl games and that is the only reason we have this stupid 4 team playoff. Hopefully someday before I die, the NCAA will have a playoff system for division 1 football that isn't a joke.

 

[CTOkie]

That's no good because UCF is undefeated as well. IF OU thumps Texas (avenging their only loss), should OU's record have an asterisk?

12-1*

UCF and Notre Dame ?
Guess who has the "brand name" and the legacy.
Note: I'm not defending Notre Dame.

 

[OklaBama]

Notre Dame's only marquee win was against Michigan, 24-17, but since OSU just thumped Michigan, that win no longer looks very impressive.

On top of that, look at these close wins by Notre Dame and how they struggled against poor teams:

24-16 Ball State
22-17 Vanderbilt
19-14 Pitt
24-17 USC

See a pattern here? Change those teams to Okla State, Texas, TT, and WV and they would have some losses. Notre Dame is just as much overrated as Michigan!

No offense to speak of from the Domers. OU would have a field day with them.

Btw, Pitt just got embarrassed by a very bad Miami team.

If OU beats Texas, Clemson beats Pitt, and Bama barely beats Georgia or Georgia barely beats Bama and both make the playoffs, then the playoffs should be Bama, Clemson, Georgia, and OU.

Don't agree? Well, how do you think those games would be if you replace Notre Dame with OU?

OU vs Ball State
OU vs Vanderbilt
OU vs Pitt
OU vs USC

Would all of those games be close victories or would OU blow them out?

Of the top three, Notre Dame is the team that OU would most likely drum. That would be a dream come true, IMO. Notre Dame would likely be favored and I would take the Sooners straight up.

 

[pcbuckeye]

I personally think Alabama, Clemson and OSU/OU are the top 4 teams. ND needs to join a power 5 conference if they want a seat. Their roster comes no where close to OSU or OU. If its really about the 4 best teams. Id have ND 7th. Match them up with UCF for the mythical NC to match their others from the early 1900's. Until there is more than 4 seats to the table, Non power 5 teams dont have a shot.

ND would be an underdog to:
Alabama
Oklahoma
Ohio State
Clemson
Georgia
LSU
Penn State
WVU

They are not a top 4 team. Join a power 5.

 

[Soonerborn1959]

I hate ND just as much as everyone and do believe OU would drum them but ........

ND shouldnt have to win a CC nor play that 13th game. In the beginning of the playoff era yes it would have mattered or at least we were all told that. That 13th data point all went out the window with the selection of TOSU in 2016 when they sat at home watching the B10 CG. The committee again done the same for Alabama last season.

Here is the funny part, OSU fans were defending that selection in 2016 but then in 2017 saying a conference championship should outweigh a non conf champion ( Alabama) and got outraged or couldn’t believe the committee chose Bama ovet them. They were very confident they would win out over Bama.

Now this year our team will be faced with a stand-off vs THE for that 4th slot if everyone else holds serve. Not much seperation really between the 2 so we as fans will have to wait to see the committees choice. I almost feel as if our team is going to lose that lottery drawing and will be surprised if OU is chosen over Meyer vs Saben possibilty. Dont kid yourself that committee makes its own rules for selection but will feed anyone a line of BS that is gullible enough to buy into it.

 

[runningback43]

I think they'd beat LSU, but the other teams you have on your list would all beat Notre Dame in my opinion.

 

[soonermade]

This is a big IF, but if OU wins and wins big against Texas, then I do not see any scenario that would put OSU in the playoffs over OU. Mainly for two reasons, OU would avenge its only loss and OSU got throttled by Purdue.

 

[Deweygolfer]

I really don't think ND is one of the Top 4 Teams in the Nation either (give me Bama, Clemson, UGA, OU, tOSU over them), but they are 12-0 and they are ND. Remember 5 years back what happened to ND in the Natty against Bama...…..a slaughter. That ND Team is just like this one, 12-0, yet Bama was a 10 point favorite and won 42-14. Same thing will happen this year when they play Clemson.

 

[thatdude35]

Of the top three, Notre Dame is the team that OU would most likely drum. That would be a dream come true, IMO. Notre Dame would likely be favored and I would take the Sooners straight up.

ND wouldn’t be favored

 

[thatdude35]

I hate ND just as much as everyone and do believe OU would drum them but ........

ND shouldnt have to win a CC nor play that 13th game. In the beginning of the playoff era yes it would have mattered or at least we were all told that. That 13th data point all went out the window with the selection of TOSU in 2016 when they sat at home watching the B10 CG. The committee again done the same for Alabama last season.

Here is the funny part, OSU fans were defending that selection in 2016 but then in 2017 saying a conference championship should outweigh a non conf champion ( Alabama) and got outraged or couldn’t believe the committee chose Bama ovet them. They were very confident they would win out over Bama.

Now this year our team will be faced with a stand-off vs THE for that 4th slot if everyone else holds serve. Not much seperation really between the 2 so we as fans will have to wait to see the committees choice. I almost feel as if our team is going to lose that lottery drawing and will be surprised if OU is chosen over Meyer vs Saben possibilty. Dont kid yourself that committee makes its own rules for selection but will feed anyone a line of BS that is gullible enough to buy into it.

They want Tua vs Kyler more than Saban vs Meyer... they also air the Heisman ceremony. They love to pit two teams together. It gets fairly annoying. They would love nothing more than us at the 4 vs Bama in Arlington again.

 

[CTOkie]

Without a legitimate defense, I wouldn't say any of the teams listed are underdogs to OU.

 

[thatdude35]

Without a legitimate defense, I wouldn't say any of the teams listed are underdogs to OU.

I can see us being a 3 point fav or so over ND.

 

[soonermade]

OU has talent on defense, for the most part. Heck, even Bookie who seems to be lost is a 5-star recruit so you just never know when they might click like OSU did against Michigan. There were several times OU's defense looked good this year and several times they looked bad. If they can just play a complete game, OU could beat any team in the nation.

 

[OklaBama]

ND wouldn’t be favored

Well then I may have to reconsider. OU as a favorite is the kiss of death. I like our chances more as the underdog.

 

[OklaBama]

I personally think Alabama, Clemson and OSU/OU are the top 4 teams. ND needs to join a power 5 conference if they want a seat. Their roster comes no where close to OSU or OU. If its really about the 4 best teams. Id have ND 7th. Match them up with UCF for the mythical NC to match their others from the early 1900's. Until there is more than 4 seats to the table, Non power 5 teams dont have a shot.

ND would be an underdog to:
Alabama
Oklahoma
Ohio State
Clemson
Georgia
LSU
Penn State
WVU

They are not a top 4 team. Join a power 5.

There have always been special rules for Notre Dame. Money most likely.

 

[pcbuckeye]

I hate ND just as much as everyone and do believe OU would drum them but ........

ND shouldnt have to win a CC nor play that 13th game. In the beginning of the playoff era yes it would have mattered or at least we were all told that. That 13th data point all went out the window with the selection of TOSU in 2016 when they sat at home watching the B10 CG. The committee again done the same for Alabama last season.

Here is the funny part, OSU fans were defending that selection in 2016 but then in 2017 saying a conference championship should outweigh a non conf champion ( Alabama) and got outraged or couldn’t believe the committee chose Bama ovet them. They were very confident they would win out over Bama.

Now this year our team will be faced with a stand-off vs THE for that 4th slot if everyone else holds serve. Not much seperation really between the 2 so we as fans will have to wait to see the committees choice. I almost feel as if our team is going to lose that lottery drawing and will be surprised if OU is chosen over Meyer vs Saben possibilty. Dont kid yourself that committee makes its own rules for selection but will feed anyone a line of BS that is gullible enough to buy into it.

Here is the thing. Im a big fan of you get what you deserve. I would have zero problems with OU getting in over OSU. We can look at this objectively from 20 different angles. SOS, big wins, bad losses, whatever angle you want. I wasn't one of the fans defending the selection or outraged. 2 loss teams should not be considered unless there arent 4+ 1 loss teams or better. I wont be upset if OSU gets left out this year either. Win all your games and take it out of their hands. I watch more college football than one probably should and OSU and OU have had serious lapses on Defense. I also think they are the only 2 teams that could put 35+ on Bama. Now they may give up 50, but crazy things happen in shootouts.

The computers all have OU and OSU ahead of ND, even with the loss. If the criteria is the top 4, give me Alabama, Clemson OU OSU.

 

[BillyRay_rivals31072]

Only answer:
OU is 11-1.
ND is 12-0.

This is really all that needs to be said.

People can make the UCF comparison all you want. All it does it make a case for UCF to be included, NOT a case for saying Notre Dame doesn't deserve to be included. In fact, if people want to throw in the UCF comparison, then you are making an argument that UCF should be included over OU.

 

[veritas59]

Syracuse would have looked better if their starting QB wasn't knocked out of the game early. Northwestern doesn't look like a marquee win, but I do think they will upset OSU, mainly because of the emotional high OSU is coming off of beating their rival, who they have dominated for 8 years in a row. I think OSU's poor defense will show up again and Northwestern's defense will do a much better job than Michigan's overrated defense did.

If I'm right and OU beats Texas, then it won't matter about Notre Dame, but Ball State? Pitt? That's just ridiculous.

This is why there should be 8 teams in the playoffs, not 4, to end discussions like this. UCF would be in, and that would be a good thing, but not in a 4-team playoff because they do not play a hard enough regular season schedule to validate it.

Pitt is playing in the ACC championship game this Saturday. Ball State is cherry picking. (We had Kansas and FAU) If you'd looked at their schedule 5 years ago or whenever it was put together, you would have thought it to be a much tougher schedule than it turned out to be..... Kind of like when we scheduled Tennessee and UCLA.

I'm just saying it cuts both ways.

 

[pcbuckeye]

The schedule point is a good one. You cant control what a team will look like 5 years from now. OSU scheduled TCU and Oregon State this year roughly 5 years ago when both were ranked/ top 40. At the time I was thinking, crap our only somewhat easy game is Tulane. TCU and Oregon State were both bad this year so the Buckeyes aren't getting credit for a schedule that has 11 power 5 teams. Same could be said somewhat about UCLA. They have the potential to be a top 15 team 5 years from now. They were just down this year. It further brings into question the committee. If the best 4 is truly the criteria and every conf is represented, OSU is getting hosed by having their AD on the committee (who played for ND). He has to leave the room when they discuss Ohio State. If Pat Fitzgerald or the AD from PSU was in the room, they would argure harder for OSU. Network deals make announcers bad choices because there is a financial incentive to the outcome.

Best solution. Independent committee, 8 team playoff. No conf championship games. Play 12 regular season games, 9 conf games mandatory. 10 power 5 games mandatory. 5 road games mandatory.

 

[OklaBama]

The schedule point is a good one. You cant control what a team will look like 5 years from now. OSU scheduled TCU and Oregon State this year roughly 5 years ago when both were ranked/ top 40. At the time I was thinking, crap our only somewhat easy game is Tulane. TCU and Oregon State were both bad this year so the Buckeyes aren't getting credit for a schedule that has 11 power 5 teams. Same could be said somewhat about UCLA. They have the potential to be a top 15 team 5 years from now. They were just down this year. It further brings into question the committee. If the best 4 is truly the criteria and every conf is represented, OSU is getting hosed by having their AD on the committee (who played for ND). He has to leave the room when they discuss Ohio State. If Pat Fitzgerald or the AD from PSU was in the room, they would argure harder for OSU. Network deals make announcers bad choices because there is a financial incentive to the outcome.

Best solution. Independent committee, 8 team playoff. No conf championship games. Play 12 regular season games, 9 conf games mandatory. 10 power 5 games mandatory. 5 road games mandatory.

There’s no way to have a truly “independent” committee.

 

[OUnabomber]

If any ND teams goes undefeated then they will be in the playoffs. Right or wrong that is just the way it is

 

[Senior Sooner]

IF is the Operative-Word-of-the-Week...Run, Clock, Run!

 

[pcbuckeye]

There’s no way to have a truly “independent” committee.

I was thinking similar to what the Basketball Committee does for the big dance

 

[runningback43]

I was thinking similar to what the Basketball Committee does for the big dance

That committee isn't independent either. The AD from Creighton University is the chair.

http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/mens-basketball-selections-101-committee

 

[veritas59]

IF is the Operative-Word-of-the-Week...Run, Clock, Run!

I tried to like this twice.

 

[OklaBama]

I tried to like this twice.

Man, it’s the little “thumbs up” dingy. Oh, I see you found it.

 

[SoonerExpress]

Believe me I don't like Notre Dame as much as the next guy but they did everything they had to do to get in, they didn't lose. Their schedule doesn't look as good at the end of the year as it did before the year. They played a lot of schools that were down, that are usually a lot better (florida st, usc, Stanford). I agree that they may not technically be one of the four best teams, but IMO you couldn't justify keeping them out.

 

[veritas59]

There’s no way to have a truly “independent” committee.

Dude, expand your mind, man. All we need is 12 foreign PhD students studying big data/data science etc. at MIT (you know, the IDGAF about football type). Let them pick 8 teams and be done with it. No media, no weekly specials, no RULES other than write 4-6-8 or however many algorithms to lay over the top of one another and come up with the best 8 teams. What's the worst that could happen? Computers don't piss on your carpet, man....

 

[veritas59]

Believe me I don't like Notre Dame as much as the next guy but they did everything they had to do to get in, they didn't lose. Their schedule doesn't look as good at the end of the year as it did before the year. They played a lot of schools that were down, that are usually a lot better (florida st, usc, Stanford). I agree that they may not technically be one of the four best teams, but IMO you couldn't justify keeping them out.

Ed Zachery

 

[veritas59]

Man, it’s the little “thumbs up” dingy. Oh, I see you found it.

No man......... I wanted to like it, like two times.....

 

[Senior Sooner]

No man......... I wanted to like it, like two times.....

like...Like...LIKE!!!

 

[OklaBama]

Dude, expand your mind, man. All we need is 12 foreign PhD students studying big data/data science etc. at MIT (you know, the IDGAF about football type). Let them pick 8 teams and be done with it. No media, no weekly specials, no RULES other than write 4-6-8 or however many algorithms to lay over the top of one another and come up with the best 8 teams. What's the worst that could happen? Computers don't piss on your carpet, man....

“That’s fricking interesting, man. That’s fricking interesting”.

 

[OklaBama]

No man......... I wanted to like it, like two times.....

Oh, yeah, I get it now. What day is it?

 

[OklaBama]

Computers don't piss on your carpet, man....

Right. Woo peed on the rug, man.

 

[Soonerborn1959]

The schedule point is a good one. You cant control what a team will look like 5 years from now. OSU scheduled TCU and Oregon State this year roughly 5 years ago when both were ranked/ top 40. At the time I was thinking, crap our only somewhat easy game is Tulane. TCU and Oregon State were both bad this year so the Buckeyes aren't getting credit for a schedule that has 11 power 5 teams. Same could be said somewhat about UCLA. They have the potential to be a top 15 team 5 years from now. They were just down this year. It further brings into question the committee. If the best 4 is truly the criteria and every conf is represented, OSU is getting hosed by having their AD on the committee (who played for ND). He has to leave the room when they discuss Ohio State. If Pat Fitzgerald or the AD from PSU was in the room, they would argure harder for OSU. Network deals make announcers bad choices because there is a financial incentive to the outcome.

Best solution. Independent committee, 8 team playoff. No conf championship games. Play 12 regular season games, 9 conf games mandatory. 10 power 5 games mandatory. 5 road games mandatory.

Just a FYI 2 people have to leave the room when OU is discussed. Joe C and Beamer. I have heard due to the situation that when both are discussed all 3 are now being required to leave the room.

So the narrative OSU is getting hosed doesnt apply here.