Notre Dame: No Conference, No Special Treatment

Notre Dame is good, but nothing great in relation to notable team stats. Their highest ratings come in their passing efficiency (No. 3 in the country) and turnover margin (T-No.4 in the country). While respectable and certainly nothing to brush off, multiple teams vying for their No. 9 spot have stronger overall team stats. The No. 23 Tennessee Volunteers (6-3, 3-3 SEC) have the nation’s top team offense and No. 2 passing offense, the No. 11 Oklahoma Sooners (7-2, 3-2 SEC) have the nation’s No. 7 team defense and No. 8 scoring defense, the No. 13 Utah Utes (7-2, 4-2 Big 12) have the No. 3 rushing offense and USF has the No. 5 scoring offense, just to name a few notable ones. Utah, having the No. 3 rushing offense, is especially notable, given that Notre Dame has a stalwart running back in Jeremiyah Love and yet ranks outside the top 25 in the land in that category.

Finally, and perhaps the most egregious of the cons against the Fighting Irish, is that they only have one ranked win. This win came over the No. 17 USC Trojans (7-2, 5-1 Big Ten), who also have two losses and one ranked win. There are teams below not just Notre Dame, but below the Trojans, who have a similar or better record against ranked teams. USF, the No. 14 Vanderbilt Commodores (8-2, 4-2 SEC), the No. 10 Texas Longhorns (7-2, 4-1 SEC), Oklahoma, the No. 15 Miami Hurricanes (7-2, 3-2 ACC), the No. 19 Virginia Cavaliers (8-2, 5-1 ACC) and the No. 20 Louisville Cardinals (7-2, 4-2 ACC) all have two ranked wins and similar strength of resumes. Virginia, USF and Louisville all rank below even USC.

Independence: Blessings and Curses

Let’s give Notre Dame the benefit of the doubt here. They have played more Power Four teams than anyone else in the country, even when they didn’t have to. This is nothing to scoff at and is certainly something to note in their case, especially with the strong winning record. This being said, they don’t have to play a whole bunch of Power Four teams. Technically, all they have to play are the five ACC opponents due to the agreement they have with the conference. They can play whoever they want (with some caveats) and have the freedom of an independent to not be tied down to conference scheduling.

However, let’s look at it this way. In the scope of being an independent in the CFP era, the strength of schedule is paramount in making sure you get noticed by the committee. Unless you go undefeated, as an independent with a weak schedule, you won’t get noticed. See the 7-3 UConn Huskies. Notre Dame technically does have to schedule tough, otherwise, the committee won’t care unless they run the table.

They’ve scheduled multiple Power Four teams for this reason, more than any other team. An admirable move. The only way to get noticed is to win big games, and win they have, but even still, against what competition? Just because a team is Power Four doesn’t mean they’re worth their salt. As stated previously, Notre Dame has a weaker schedule than seven teams and a weaker resume than four teams that are ranked behind them in the CFP poll.

Notre Dame’s marquee win this season is the aforementioned win over USC. A decent victory, but USC has an incredibly similar resume to Notre Dame, still. In what world does Notre Dame get the edge over the other teams that have similar or better resumes that they haven’t played head-to-head, then? This is the reason conferences exist: there are teams that need to go head-to-head within these conferences to decide which team is better. It’s easier to weed out the contenders and pretenders.

Teams test their mettle within conferences, and while Notre Dame has won handily against Power Four competition, it’s hardly been a test against the Power Four and Group of 5 competition they’ve won against. The Purdue Boilermakers (2-8, 0-7 Big Ten) and Arkansas Razorbacks (2-7, 0-5 SEC) hardly qualify as Power Four competition this year. Miami, a team below them in the CFP rankings, has a better resume and beat Notre Dame, so why exactly is Notre Dame above them? What kind of special treatment is warranted?

No Special Treatment

Notre Dame has proven throughout the years that it can handle not being an independent. It can play in-conference competition, and in some sports, it does play in-conference competition. Why does their football program garner special treatment? History? The Michigan Wolverines have history. The Rutgers Scarlet Knights have history. The Navy Midshipmen have history. Multiple other programs have a history with as much depth and breadth as Notre Dame, yet are still in a conference.

Money isn’t the reason either. The SMU Mustangs have money. The Texas Tech Red Raiders have money. The Oregon Ducks have money. Multiple other programs have money as well. Being a private university (Stanford Cardinal), being a religious university (Baylor Bears) being a university that had a plethora of success since before the leather helmet was introduced, even, it doesn’t matter. Notre Dame has no reason for special treatment.

If we are going to treat Big 12, Group of 5 and ACC competition like chopped liver yet hold Notre Dame’s resume in high regard, we have lost the plot. Heck, even certain Big Ten and SEC competition takes a back seat to Notre Dame’s “tradition of excellence.”

Notre Dame’s last national title was in 1988. Marcus Freeman was 2-years-old. This “tradition of excellence” has run into a streak of mediocrity. Are they good? Yes. Did they come close last year with their best roster in who knows how long? Yes. Do they deserve to be in the conversation as of now? Eh, yeah, supposedly. Do they deserve to be in the conversation over teams that have a better resume but have the handicap of being in a conference? Absolutely not. Strength of schedule matters, strength of wins matters. Head-to-head and parity matter. If you go out and lose to the No. 22 Pitt Panthers (7-2, 5-1 ACC) this weekend, why should we still take your program seriously as a CFP contender?

Obviously, because you have three losses, you shouldn’t be considered, but even if it were your second, your position is on incredibly thin ice. It’s why their resume can be put into question now. There are plenty of teams that have stronger resumes and are more deserving. The best teams deserve to play to be named the best team, and while Notre Dame has played some strong teams this season, they have one ranked win to show for it. Rankings are rankings for a reason. For a team that wants a bid at the CFP even while still wanting this special treatment of being an independent, they don’t have a very CFP-worthy resume. At least, compared to teams that belong to a conference, those that have a similar record and have a similar strength of schedule.