Notre Dame’s placement in the first College Football Playoff rankings of 2020 brought little suspense and left even less surprise.
It didn’t require too much debate from the selection committee either, chairman Gary Barta revealed.
“Notre Dame came in squarely at No. 2,” Barta said Tuesday night on a conference call. “Partly because they had the impressive win over Clemson, but because they’re just improving with each week that goes by.”
The Irish (8-0, 7-0 ACC) are behind only top-ranked Alabama (7-0) in the CFP Top 25 and ahead of No. 3 Clemson (6-1) and No. 4 Ohio State (4-0), suggesting a comfortable place in the Playoff field if they win out – and a still-realistic path even if they lose a game.
Notre Dame is the lone Power Five team with eight wins, the only team to beat another top-four team and one of four top-10 teams with a win over another top-10 unit. Alabama has defeated No. 5 Texas A&M and No. 9 Georgia, No. 6 Florida beat Georgia, Texas A&M beat Florida and Clemson defeated No. 10 Miami.
Clemson and No. 19 North Carolina are the only two ranked opponents on Notre Dame’s schedule. The Irish play the Tar Heels (6-2) Friday.
In this season of uneven schedules and wide discrepancies in number of games among contenders, how teams look in compiling their gaudy records will have even more weight than normal. Barta admitted as much. Notre Dame, in his and the committee’s eyes, has satisfied that part of the equation to date.
“To Notre Dame’s credit, they’re 8-0 and they really have improved on both sides of the ball each week,” Barta said. “I look at (quarterback) Ian Book, who now compared to the beginning of the year as the season goes on, just looks more and more comfortable with every passing game.
“The other thing Notre Dame has done is played very tough defense. They’ve held five of their opponents to fewer than 14 points.”
The absence of a few important Clemson players — including quarterback Trevor Lawrence — in the Irish’s 47-40 Nov. 7 over the Tigers win did arise when discussing that game, Barta said, but not to the point where it created too much doubt about slotting Notre Dame second.
Clemson, meanwhile, had its absences in that game more heavily considered. As Barta noted, the Tigers were down three defensive starters and Lawrence, the favorite to be this spring’s No. 1 pick. But their evaluation went beyond that one game. Their résumé includes the Miami win and five FBS victories by at least three scores. It was enough to be a comfy third over Ohio State, an unbeaten that has played four games.
“One of the things the committee noted right away before we talked about the Notre Dame loss was just the domination in the wins they had and consistent level of play week in and week out,” Barta said. “That was certainly part of the conversation.
“We do know when a player or some key players are not available for a game…It’s all part of the discussion, but the committee was very impressed with Clemson. Even in that game without Trevor Lawrence, but certainly with the rest of the season and resume up until that point.”
An ACC Championship Game rematch between Clemson and Notre Dame is becoming more likely by the week. The winner would assuredly be included in the playoff field. The loser just might too, a theory only strengthened by Tuesday’s ranking unveiling.
It’s hard to consider the Pac-12 much of a playoff threat at this stage when its highest-ranked team, 3-0 Oregon, is No. 15. BYU and its 9-0 record are only one spot above the Ducks. And while 8-0 Cincinnati earned the highest-ever ranking for a Group of Five team, the Bearcats are still ranked seventh and would need plenty of chaos.
When assessing Oregon, it’s assumed a lack of games is a factor in their exclusion from even within shouting distance. Ohio State, though, has played just one more game and is fourth. There is no minimum number of games needed, but Notre Dame’s 12 games will only help it, provided the record contains one or fewer losses on selection day.
“We’re going to identify the top four and top 25 teams based on the games they do play and how strong they are,” Barta said. “We’re not going to hold somebody back because they played a certain number of games. There may become, likely become, a number of games where it does make an impact, but we haven’t identified an absolute number that we would rest on.
“We want to pick the top 25 teams based on their ability, based on the way they’re playing and certainly the number of games we’re able to watch.”
The playoff semifinals are Jan. 1 at the Rose and Sugar bowls. The No. 1 team is sent to the semifinal location closest to it. Alabama, if it holds the top spot, would presumably head to the Sugar Bowl. An unbeaten Notre Dame would likely stay ranked second or third and play in the Rose Bowl. If it loses but still reaches the field, a drop to No. 4 and Sugar Bowl meeting with Alabama (if still unbeaten) becomes more likely.
The No. 2 spot is the highest Notre Dame has earned in seven seasons of the CFP rankings. The Irish were No. 3 in 2017 and 2018 and No. 4 in 2015.
CFP top 25:
1. Alabama (7-0)
2. Notre Dame (8-0)
3. Clemson (7-1)
4. Ohio State (4-0)
5. Texas A&M (5-1)
6. Florida (6-1)
7. Cincinnati (8-0)
8. Northwestern (5-0)
9. Georgia (5-2)
10. Miami (7-1)
11. Oklahoma (6-2)
12. Indiana (4-1)
13. Iowa State (6-2)
14. BYU (9-0)
15. Oregon (3-0)
16. Wisconsin (2-1)
17. Texas (5-2)
18. USC (3-0)
19. North Carolina (6-2)
20. Coastal Carolina (8-0)
21. Marshall (7-0)
22. Auburn (5-2)
23. Oklahoma State (5-2)
24. Iowa (3-2)
25. Tulsa (5-1)
This story will be updated.
----
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.
• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
• Sign up for Blue & Gold's news alerts and daily newsletter.
• Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts.
• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @BGI_LouSomogyi, @Rivals_Singer, @PatrickEngel_, @MasonPlummer_ and @AndrewMentock.
• Like us on Facebook.
