Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME NOTRE DAME STANDS 10TH IN FIRST PLAYOFF POLL Hours before the 12-person College Football Playoff selection com- mittee would divulge its first poll on Oct. 28 for the four-team playoff to be finalized Dec. 7, Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said it was "too early" for him to know and care where his Fighting Irish would be ranked. Nevertheless, Notre Dame's No. 10 debut was a surprise. No other team in the Associated Press top 20 had a greater discrepancy from its AP ranking (No. 6). Among others, Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops said the only thing that stood out to him was Notre Dame's low rating despite a controversial 31-27 loss at No. 2 Florida State Oct. 18. ESPN analysts Brian Griese, quarterback of Michigan's 1997 co-national champs, and former Texas head coach Mack Brown, who led the Longhorns to the 2005 national title, also were taken aback. "I would be hard pressed if I'm putting my poll together to put as much space, eight spots … between Notre Dame and Florida State," Griese said. "Notre Dame dominated the line of scrimmage in a lot of cases and you could argue, and I would argue, should have won that game." "Notre Dame in my estimation should have been much higher," Brown echoed. The one consolation is if Notre Dame wins out in November, there is still time to reach the top four. At the same time last year, Auburn was No. 11 and still made the BCS National Championship Game. Michigan State wasn't even ranked, but finished No. 3. The original 13-person committee was reduced by one when former All-American quarterback Archie Manning had to take a leave of absence because of recent back surgery. He will be back in 2015. The committee now includes an athletics director from each "Power Five" conference: committee chairman Jeff Long (Arkansas), Pat Haden (USC), Oliver Luck (West Virginia), Dan Radakovich (Clemson) and Barry Alvarez (Wisconsin). The other seven members: • Tom Osborne, three-time national champion coach at Nebraska from 1973-97. • Tyrone Willingham, head coach at Stanford (1995-2001), Notre Dame (2002-04) and Washington (2005-08). • Mike Tranghese, 1990-2009 Big East commissioner. • Condoleeza Rice, the United States Secretary of State from 2005-09. • Lieutenant general Michael Gould, recently retired Superintendent of the United State Air Force Academy. • Tom Jernstedt, who has been with the NCAA since 1972. • Steve Wieberg, retired USA Today college sports reporter. 2015 Notre Dame Football Packages Sept. 5 Texas Sept. 19 Georgia Tech Sept. 26 UMass Oct. 10 Navy Oct. 17 USC Nov. 14 Wake Forest A Notre Dame trip makes A GREAT GIFT: Birthday, Father's Day, Graduation, Christmas, Retirement All details at diamondtravel.com or call 602-870-9197 DIAMOND TRAVEL 27 years in business Notre Dame PaNoramic Puzzle Blue & Gold Illustrated P.O. Box 2331 Durham, NC 27702 1-800-421-7751 www.BlueGoldOnline.com Please add Sales Tax if you live in NC (7.5%), MI (6%), or IN (7%) $19.95 +$8.00 S&H* Item #6656 1,000 pieces • Size 39"x13" *Shipping within continental U.S. only