Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM JANUARY 2025 5 I f nothing else, all we can ask of each other as human be- ings is for consistency. No- body likes wishy-washy people. Heck, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman is always harp- ing on consistency. He knows. To the 2024 College Football Playoff committee's credit, and also to the dismay of Notre Dame Fighting Irish fans, the group of a baker's dozen collegiate admin- istrators who concocted weekly CFP rankings this fall and, by way of those, the first-ever 12-team playoff field, never wavered. The committee didn't once put Penn State behind Notre Dame in its poll. PSU ended up No. 4 and the No. 6 seed. The Irish ended up No. 5 and the No. 7 seed. The Irish were con- sistently one step behind the Nittany Lions, and still are. If you're an Irish supporter up in arms, your dissent is heard. You have a case. Notre Dame looked like a better football team than Penn State for much of the sea- son. The Irish have the nation's No. 1 point differential at plus- 26.3. The Nittany Lions are ninth at plus- 17.2. Point one to the Irish for the eye test. The committee leans hard into who have you beaten — for both Penn State and Notre Dame, just one team ranked in the final CFP rankings apiece — and who have you lost to, though, and the Irish aren't ever going to be viewed favorably when it comes to the latter. They have the worst loss of any of the 12 teams in the playoff, and it's not close. Notre Dame lost, at home, to a North- ern Illinois team that went .500 in the Mid-American Conference. Four MAC teams did what the Irish couldn't and beat the Huskies. Penn State lost two games, both by a touchdown, to two of the best teams in the nation, meanwhile — No. 6 Ohio State and No. 1 Oregon. The moment the Nittany Lions played the top team in the country within a score in the Big Ten title game, Notre Dame fans should have known their team was not going to jump ahead of PSU in the rankings to earn a more favorable seed. The same can be said of Texas tak- ing Georgia to overtime in the SEC Championship Game. The Longhorns have two losses this season, both to the Bulldogs. Did anyone actually think the committee would penalize them for los- ing to the program that's won two of the last three national championships in a game played down the road from UGA's campus in front of an overwhelmingly pro-Dawgs crowd? Not a chance. Speaking of crowds. There is one that has gotten louder since the seedings were revealed clamoring that the only way for Notre Dame to get more benefit of the doubt is to join a conference. Here's why that's wrong, and yes, it once again goes back to that stinky loss to NIU. Leave that defeat in the picture. Let's say Notre Dame is in the Big Ten and played NIU in a non-conference game. Give the Irish Penn State's Big Ten schedule. What if they did the same thing as the Nittany Lions and lost to Ohio State? They'd have gone 10-2 and not 11-1. They'd have also still ad- vanced to the Big Ten title game, just as Penn State did, thanks to Ohio State's loss to Michigan. But what if they lost there — just like Penn State did? All of a sudden, you're 10-3 and not sure if you're going to qualify for the CFP at all instead of 11-1 and firmly in the field as the No. 5 team in the country and the No. 7 seed. For those who don't like hy- potheticals, sorry for making you entertain all of that. But how about one more — what if Notre Dame never lost to NIU? The Irish would have been 12-0, No. 2 in the nation and the No. 5 seed. All without playing in a conference. Ah, yes. Not playing in a con- ference. While Georgia starting quarterback Carson Beck was busy injuring his elbow against a ferocious Texas defense, Notre Dame QB1 Riley Leonard was on the couch resting up for Notre Dame's upcoming home playoff game. Should the Irish beat Indiana and advance to the Sugar Bowl, Beck won't be waiting for 'em. Not on the field, anyway. Reports on Dec. 9 in- dicated he'll be out with the injury he sustained during a game on a weekend the Irish did not have to participate in. Was the committee lenient on Penn State for being competitive in one of the two best conferences in the country? Absolutely. But that has nothing to do with Notre Dame losing to a team it had no business even being in a game with. The committee sent a message, but the response does not have to be, "Notre Dame needs to join a conference." Notre Dame just needs to not lose to NIU. ✦ The Fighting Irish have the worst loss — 16-14 to Northern Illinois Sept. 7 — of any of the 12 teams in the College Football Playoff, and it's not close. Without that defeat, they'd be 12-0, No. 2 in the nation and the No. 5 seed. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER Joining A Conference Isn't Notre Dame's Answer Tyler Horka has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 2021. He can be reached at thorka@blueandgold.com GOLDEN GAMUT TYLER HORKA