Unfiltered Takes after Week 13: Best vs. most deserving, Notre Dame, Miami, the Big 12 and much more

A lot happens on college football Saturdays. It’s hard to keep up with everything.

So this season, in an attempt to bring everybody up to speed — while taking a chance to provide you with some takes in the process — I’m going to rattle off over-arching thoughts from the previous weekend. I’ll also do my best to spring thoughts forward, not just tell you what already happened.

Let’s keep it going with the latest edition of Unfiltered Takes.

1. Notre Dame: Let’s start this with an admission. I believe, like many of you, that if Notre Dame were to play Miami again this weekend, the Irish would probably win. I have eyes, too. I watch the games, too. And after seeing Notre Dame’s 70-7 win over Syracuse over the weekend — a game during which it was winning 21-0 before even snapping the ball on offense — it’s clear Marcus Freeman‘s team is on a war path. Since starting the season 0-2, Notre Dame has now rattled off nine wins in a row, most of which in blowout form. This is a different team than it was at the beginning of the year. Quarterback CJ Carr is much improved. Jeremiyah Love is one of the best players in the country. Freeman is one heck of a football coach. There is a lot to love — pun intended — about this team. It is very easy to envision a scenario the Irish make the College Football Playoff and go on a consecutive run to the national title game.

2. The eye test: Notre Dame is an eye test team. Yes, the Irish look good in many of the advanced metrics the CFP Committee uses in its deliberations this year, but this still comes down to the eye test. It’s about choosing “best” over “most deserving.” The problem I have with the eye test, though, is that it shouldn’t take precedence over results of the games. Why? I already admitted I think Notre Dame would beat Miami if they played again, but who cares what I think? Who cares what you think? I’m 20 games below .500 picking games on Andy & Ari On3 this year. The public is often wrong when favoring a side in Las Vegas. Should what we think — or the Committee thinks — be more important than what happened on the field, even if it was in August?

3. The other side of Notre Dame: We think Notre Dame is a much-improved team. It probably is. But is it a coincidence the Irish have gotten better while facing awful teams such as 2-9 Purdue, 2-9 Arkansas, 1-10 Boston College, and, most recently, 3-8 Syracuse, who literally without a quarterback? Yes, Notre Dame beat USC, but its best win over the Trojans got worse when they lost to Oregon convincingly over the weekend. Is the eye test against those awful teams worth ranking the Irish above 9-2 Alabama, which came into the last weekend with wins over four teams in the Committee’s Top 25, and Miami, which beat Notre Dame? Is it possible losing to the two best teams on your schedule says something about you that playing awful teams masked? Sure, it is. We think things. We don’t know things.

4. Leaving out the best: I covered the 2015 Ohio State team that returned basically its entire roster from the year before after winning the national title. That was one of the most stacked teams in terms of individual talent I’ve ever seen in this sport. Guess what? That team also never clicked, muddled around with a dysfunctional and never-ending quarterback battle and lost to Michigan State at home at the end of the season. That loss caused Ohio State to miss the CFP. What do we all think would have happened had that Ohio State team gotten healthy and played Michigan State in a dome in January? It doesn’t matter what we think, because Michigan State won the head-to-head matchup with the Buckeyes and deserved to go to the CFP. That’s how sports work. You play games for the results. The results determine the future. Sometimes the “best” teams don’t win it all. That’s why the regular-season games are played.

5. “Most deserving” vs. “best”: I hear a lot about “most deserving” vs. “best” and I think they’re the same thing. Best is a notion we come up with, but how valuable is it? The most deserving is rewarding the teams who won the games they had to win to be considered for the CFP. Isn’t that what the best teams do? Win the games they have to win? I hate the “best” vs. “most deserving” discourse because if you didn’t do everything in your power to be the most deserving, well, you’re probably not the best. Win the games on your schedule, regardless of when they’re played, how they are played or who played in them. If you think that’s unfair, that’s probably not a strong case to be considered for the national championship.

6. Miami: Miami controlled the entire game in its 34-17 win over Virginia Tech on the road. But in the game’s final 30 seconds, Mario Cristobal had quarterback Carson Beck throw a touchdown pass to Malachi Toney to extend the margin of victory to 17. That’s where we are in the sport. Miami is currently seemingly boxed out of CFP contention despite having the same record and a head-to-head win over Notre Dame, which is firmly in it. Do I think Notre Dame is better? Yes. Does the current circumstance of what is happening between those two teams right now make my stomach turn? Also, yes.

7. The rankings process: The CFP Committee hasn’t used the head-to-head result between Miami and Notre Dame because they aren’t being directly compared. The Committee ranks teams in threes, so as long as Notre Dame isn’t in the same pod as the Hurricanes, they won’t have to consider that. But as results keep pouring in and Miami inches closer, the Hurricanes have hope to jump into that same consideration pod. Which brings us to …

8. Utah: Utah is another eye test team. The Utes have also inexplicably been ranked ahead of Miami in the CFP’s rankings reveals. Why? They have only two losses — to conference-leaders Texas Tech and BYU — and looked dominant in other Big 12 games. But Utah also doesn’t have a single quality win, and when it faced the Red Raiders — the best team in the conference — it was blown off the field. Utah is the only team in contention for a CFP spot that almost lost on Saturday. It won a thrilling 51-47 game over Kansas State after quarterback Devon Dampier scored on a last-minute touchdown run, but I wonder if struggling with the Wildcats could help Miami jump in the rankings and inch closer to Notre Dame.

9. Big 12: Is the Big 12 a two-bid league? As of right now, I seriously doubt it. But the way the CFP Committee has been ranking teams makes you scratch your head. Let’s focus on BYU for a second. The Cougars are 10-1 and have only lost to Texas Tech. They also control their own destiny to play in the conference title game after beating Cincinnati on Saturday. What happens if BYU gets to Dallas, faces Texas Tech and loses close? Will the win over Utah — currently a top-15 team – help the Big 12 get two teams in? What if BYU beats Tech? Is Tech still in? Last year, the CFP Committee rewarded conference championship game losers. Could that carry over to the Big 12 this year if there are two candidates, of which the Committee clearly currently thinks highly?

10. Oregon: Since losing to Indiana at home by 10 earlier in the season, Oregon has been flying under the radar. The Ducks haven’t taken up much airtime in the national title discourse despite having a stacked roster that could go toe-to-toe with anyone in the sport. I wonder if Oregon’s convincing win over USC on Saturday puts the Ducks back into focus a little bit. They finally have a top-25 win after the Penn State victory became meaningless. Quarterback Dante Moore is playing very well and tight end/receiver Kenyon Sadiq may not be a homosapien. This is a team that smoked everyone in the regular season and fell flat on its face in the postseason a year ago. Could this year be the inverse?

11. USC: USC still has a game against UCLA on its schedule, but assuming the Trojans get to 9-3 this year, is that a successful season? On one hand, Lincoln Riley’s team was better this year than we thought it would be. On the other hand, is it a bad sign that a 9-3 season this far into his tenure in Southern California is acceptable? I struggle with that a little bit. But the thing that frustrates me the most about USC is that it is actually better than what it put on the field against the Ducks. USC lost that game in large part because of bone-headed special teams mistakes, including a personal foul penalty that extended a drive after a player jumped over the center on a missed field goal attempt. The offense was elite. The defense was much improved. But the thing that tanked the Trojans this year was undisciplined and sloppy play? If I were a USC fan, I’d want to pull the hair out of my head.

Yes, USC currently has the No. 1-ranked recruiting class in the Rivals Industry Rankings. There are things to be hopeful for in the future. But after a season that inspired some hope and fell short, zooming out on Riley’s first four seasons and analyzing how things have gone is nothing but disappointing.

12. Pittsburgh: Pat Narduzzi wasn’t kidding, was he? Heading into the Notre Dame game two weeks ago, he was asked if he felt like that was a must-win game. He didn’t only say no, he also said he’d be fine losing by 100 if it meant the Panthers would win their final two ACC games. Well, Pitt basically did lose to Notre Dame by 100. Then it responded by beating Georgia Tech on Saturday after jumping out to a 28-0 lead early and holding on. Now it is one win away from playing in the ACC title game, which is insane because this is a team that lost to West Virginia this season. That one win? Against Miami. If the Panthers pull that off — and they’re only a seven-point underdog at home according to BetMGM — that also clears up a lot of the CFP debate.

13. The ACC: The best team in the ACC is Miami. The Hurricanes likely won’t be playing in Charlotte. So where do things stand now? SMU, which lost to Baylor, TCU, and Wake Forest this year, is a win away from punching its ticket to Charlotte. Virginia, who lost to NC State and Wake Forest this season, is a win over Virginia Tech away from meeting the Mustangs there. Still, there are scenarios for Duke — yes, Duke — to sneak into the game. This has been a wild conference that frankly wasn’t very good this year. Still, I think Miami has done enough to make the ACC a more likely two-bid league than the Big 12.

14. Alabama: What a season for Alabama, right? It starts with a loss to an awful Florida State team. Then the Crimson Tide go on an absolute tear in the SEC, beating Georgia and three other currently-ranked teams in a row. Then it lost to Oklahoma at home two weeks ago. Now, Kalen DeBoer — who goes in and out from hated to loved in Tuscaloosa every few months — is in a must-win position at Auburn this weekend to make the CFP. I’m afraid to even consider what happens if DeBoer loses to the Tigers, who are only a 5.5-point underdog at home on Saturday night.

15. Michigan: The Wolverines took care of business against Maryland on Saturday, knocking off the Terrapins 45-20. Quarterback Bryce Underwood completed 16 of 23 passes for 215 yards and two touchdowns in the game. That win sets up this: Michigan hosts rival Ohio State in the Big House next Saturday, only a win away from punching its ticket to the CFP. There has been some debate about whether Michigan would get in with a win over the Buckeyes. Let me tell you right now: there is no world where a 10-2 team with the best win in college football doesn’t get in. 

16. Texas A&M-Texas: Texas A&M needs to win this game. Not because it has anything to do with whether the Aggies would make the CFP, but because they need to take it this year. They are 11-0 and a win away from playing in the SEC title game, something they’ve never done before. Texas, frankly, isn’t very good this year. For Texas A&M fans who are tired of being patted on the head by Longhorns fans, this is the game you absolutely have to have. The Aggies could punch their ticket to Atlanta and the SEC Championship Game, while doing it against your biggest rival on the road. That’s how you cap off a season that belongs only to you.

17. Lane Kiffin: Lane Kiffin met with Ole Miss on Friday and then a statement was released that a resolution to his situation will be announced after the Egg Bowl. That is a highly dysfunctional situation, given Ole Miss is CFP-bound and it doesn’t know whether its coach is committed to returning next year. Florida and LSU are currently in the midst of assembling God contracts for the coach while Kiffin prepares his team for a rivalry game on the road. Mississippi State is a 7.5-point underdog at home to Kiffin’s Rebels. This rivalry weekend is turbo-charged.

18. Mike Norvell: He frankly hasn’t done enough to keep his job, but he will for at least another season. That was announced on Sunday. A large part of this decision has to be the pure cost of firing him, which would have amounted to a $54 million buyout and millions more to his staff. The truth is, Norvell has had some really big highs as Florida State’s head coach. But the lows? They’ve been so low. Norvell is lucky to have another chance after fielding what has been an awful football team for two years in a row.

19. Oklahoma: Oklahoma beat Missouri at home in what I thought was a trap scenario. Coming off an emotional win at Alabama against a capable team at home had the recipe for disaster. But the Sooners, backed by their elite-level defense, got the job done. Yes, there are questions about Oklahoma’s offense, which was held to less than 300 yards despite having an 87-yard touchdown play. But against that schedule, Oklahoma has done more than enough to make the CFP. One more win over LSU and the Sooners are in the big dance. Hat’s off to Brent Venables. He came into this season on the hottest of hot seats and exceeded expectations.

20. Crazy weekend ahead: The nine biggest games of the weekend — all of which are either rivalries, games with CFP implications or both — feature home underdogs. Get ready for a weekend that may shake up everything we thought is true about the CFP heading into championship weekend.