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You know, it’s almost as if Notre Dame’s signature wins against Northwestern and Ball State didn’t prepare them to play against elite competition.
— Dawg Sports (@dawgsports) December 29, 2018
Notre Dame just played in its sixth New Years 6 Bowl since 2001.
The Fighting Irish have lost every one of them. By at least 14 points.
It’s time to dispense with the charade that Notre Dame’s carefully curated schedule including the likes of Ball State, Northwestern, and a steady diet of services academies is somehow equivalent to the road SEC, Big XII, and even Big Ten teams must travel to get to the playoff.
Notre Dame football is Central Florida football with historical pedigree and flawless references. The 2018 Fighting Irish are a very good football team who nevertheless would have finished 11-1 in a full ACC schedule before getting tuned up by this same Clemson squad in the conference title game. Or 9-3 in the SEC West. Actually, I changed my mind about my UCF analogy. Notre Dame is Auburn with better SAT scores.
I understand that the playoff committee would have had a difficult time keeping out an undefeated Notre Dame. But the time has come for the committee to tell the Irish that their exceptionalism and independence are a choice, one whose consequences they need to understand. Despite what they teach during freshman orientation, being Notre Dame does not make your team special.
Get in a Power 5 conference and win it if you want to go to the playoff. Until that happens, the Irish are just wasting our time.