Skip to main content
Notre Dame

Newsstand: College Football Playoff Selection Committee chair explains Notre Dame's No. 10 ranking

IMG_7504by: Jack Soble11 hours agojacksoble56
love
Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love. (MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

On Tuesday night, Notre Dame received good news. The Irish are No. 10 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings, which makes them the final at-large bid in the projected field.

Shortly after the rankings were announced, College Football Playoff Selection Committee chair and Baylor athletics director Mack Rhoades explained why the committee ranked the Irish where it did.

“I think it starts with two losses, total of 4 points against two very, very good teams,” Rhoades said. “One of them [Texas A&M] ranked third in the country and one [Miami] ranked 18th. We talked about, I think early on defensively, maybe they weren’t as good as what we thought they would be but certainly most recent, it seems like they’ve been much, much better defensively.

“Six straight wins. You look at their backfield, Jadarian Price, Jeremiyah Love. Probably the best backfield in the country when you think about one-two punch. Going into the Southern Cal game, they lost their starting center for the year and they were able to overcome that and run for a bunch of yards again against Southern Cal.

“When we look at the tape, we think Notre Dame’s a really solid football team, both sides of the ball.”

Rhoades was also asked why Miami, who came in at No. 18, is ranked so far below Notre Dame when the Hurricanes defeated the Irish on Aug. 31. The reasoning boils down to this: The Irish got better since that night in Miami Gardens, Fla., while the Hurricanes got worse.

“I think back to Notre Dame, the committee felt strongly that that is a team that when you look at Week 1 to now, a team that has improved, has gotten better, particularly when we think about defensively,” Rhoades said. “I talked about the running game, and what I didn’t talk about is the quarterback play of [CJ] Carr. As a freshman, he’s just been really, really good, throws a great deep ball and has been really consistent for them at that spot.”

Notre Dame Tweets of the Day

The Irish are in the projected College Football Playoff field.

December in Provo, anyone?

Breaking records already.

Quote of the Day

“I think they play with a lot of passion. And so I think he’s an outstanding football coach. I love his philosophy and his messaging to his team and the focus on the process and all the things that he talks about. And you see that in the way that they play. But I think they’re extremely well coached across the board. I think he does a tremendous job. You combine that kind of coaching and that kind of messaging with the kind of talent and the pride they have in that program, it’s a good formula.”

— Navy head coach Brian Newberry on playing against a Marcus Freeman-led Fighting Irish team

Headlines of the Day