Joel Klatt: Notre Dame would probably beat half of playoff field, but committee got it right

Whether right or wrong, the fact is that Notre Dame now won’t be part of this postseason, as they opted out of the bowl season after missing the College Football Playoff on Sunday. That’s as frustrating as it is for the Fighting Irish considering where many think they’d fall as far as favorites among those who are in the CFP.

Joel Klatt made that point during his show on Monday. In saying that the selection committee got it right in eliminating them, Klatt didn’t disagree that Notre Dame would be favored over half of the bracket, including, ironically, the two teams who beat them in what would be rematches from the regular season.

“Here’s the thing. Here’s the thing that sucks in this whole conversation. I think that the committee ultimately got it right, and, at the same time, Notre Dame would beat half of this field. Both of those things can be true,” said Klatt. “And, Notre Dame fans, you’re probably pissed at the sentiment, but it’s true.”

“You know, if you just go down the list, you just go down the list. Would they beat either of these Group of Five participants? Obviously, yes. Would they, or should they, beat Miami, the way that they’ve looked during the course of the season, the way Miami has looked during the course of the season? Probably. Would they beat A&M? Probably. Would they beat Alabama? Probably. Would they beat Oklahoma? Probably. Would they beat Ole Miss? Probably. You get all the way up to, like, Oregon, Texas Tech, Georgia where you start to be like, oh, yeah, that would be, like, close, yeah. I don’t know. I don’t know who would win that game,” Klatt said. “So, Notre Dame would probably beat half the field. They’re mad about it.”

With them having missed the field yesterday, that’s all hypothetical now, based on who they would have played and where with their projected path in the bracket, for Notre Dame. Still, with how they performed the final two months of the season, winning ten straight, by an average margin of 29.7 points, to even have themselves in consideration to be in the field, the Irish would reasonably expect to be a contender in the field, which makes it all the more brutal that they’re not.

Again, we won’t know how it would have played out. It’s the could have in how it played out, though, even if some think the selection committee made the right decision with that final at-large spot, which makes this what-if hurt even more up in South Bend.