Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

Notre Dame football gets short end of the stick in new CFP format

Originally posted on Gridiron Heroics | By Matthew Brown | Last updated 2/20/24

The College Football Playoff committee announced a new format for the upcoming 12-team playoff. After the Pac-12 dissolved, the board decided to decrease the number of automatic bids to align with the number of Power 5 conferences. One program that got shafted was Notre Dame due to its independent status.

Under the new playoff format, Notre Dame can go 12-0 and be the #1 team in the country but won’t be any higher than the 5th seed in the CFP.

Essentially committee is saying join a conference or you’ll never have a first-round bye.

— Max Chadwick (@MaxChadwickCFB) February 20, 2024

The new format states the winners of the Big Ten, SEC, ACC, and Big 12 will get the top four seeds. The best any other team can do is fifth. Why is this important? The top four seeds get a bye week. Because the Fighting Irish are not a part of any conference, the best they can get in the playoffs is the fifth seed. Even if they are number one in the AP poll, the top four seeds will go to conference teams. The message is clear to Notre Dame: get into a conference.

Which Conference Would They Join?

It would not shock me if this caused the Fighting Irish to join a conference. They are an extremely valuable program. Their rich history and a large number of wins make them desirable for any conference. However, they may hold out for as long as possible. There have long been rumors about them joining a conference, and so far, they have held firm.

Will the College Football Playoff committee’s new format force the hand of the Fighting Irish? This will be a storyline to watch in the coming years.

This article first appeared on Gridiron Heroics and was syndicated with permission.

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