There’s no rationale for it, no sense of trying to explain this unique and unreasonable partnership between Notre Dame and the College Football Playoff.
Each needs the other, and has done everything to make sure the relationship works. Anyone trying to explain it any other way looks utterly foolish.
But that was CFP selection committee chairman Mack Rhoades doing just that Tuesday night, making the case for Notre Dame — the sport’s biggest television property and lighting rod of controversy — in the Top 10 of the first playoff poll.
“We refer to it as art and science,” said Rhoades said, and wait until you see what comes next.
“The art is watching the team on film and tape and how good they are, how physical they are up front, offensive line, defensive line play, how good they are up the middle, their quarterback play, their skill players, and then certain contemplating and looking at metrics,” he added.
Holy Touchdown Jesus. What in the world was that?
Because it’s not science, but it’s one heckuva an artful dodge of the unavoidable truth.
Notre Dame has played two difficult games. Notre Dame has lost two difficult games — one at home to No. 3 Texas A&M after giving up a touchdown in the final minute, and the other a one-possession loss to Miami that was anything but a close game.
In addition to those, you know, losses in games that matter, Notre Dame has this spectacular resume:
- A win over Boston College, which hasn’t won an ACC game.
- A win over Purdue, which hasn’t won a Big Ten game.
- A win over Arkansas, which hasn’t won an SEC game.
- And home wins over USC, Boise State and NC State.
That No. 10 ranking, everyone, is deference to the largest television property in the sport. And nothing else.
This is about name recognition, blue-blood status and three coaches on the committee steering the vote to their X’s and O’s narrative. Instead of, you know, what happened on the field.
If you don’t think that’s the case, scroll back to that Rhoades quote again. Hall of Fame coaches and committee members Chris Ault and Mark Dantonio may as well have been feeding lines to Rhoades.
It’s absurd to sell it any other way.
But if you really want to blame someone (or in Notre Dame’s case, thank someone) for the Irish question season after season, look no further than former Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick.
It wasn’t that long ago when he pulled off the swindle of all swindles.
Let me take you back a handful of years to the birth of the expanded CFP, and the nexus of it all. While everyone was interested in more teams, no sane person on the executive committee wanted any part of figuring out the mess.
But when SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, former Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby, former Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson and Swarbrick got to work constructing the 12-team format — the foundation of which is still used today — three of the four men couldn’t have imagined the impact it had on the future of Notre Dame football.
One did, and Swarbrick played the role of peacemaker or negotiator ― or whatever everyone wanted ― near perfectly. Then got everything Notre Dame needed.
Despite Notre Dame’s independent status, it received the opportunity to compete for seven at-large bids. Favorable financial terms soon followed.
It didn’t take long for Notre Dame to take advantage of the situation with a deep run in the CFP. The Irish earned $20 million from last year’s national championship game run, a huge lump sum it didn’t have to share with any other team because ― wait for it ― it’s not a member of any FBS conference.
The breakdown: $4 million for being selected to the CFP, $4 million for a quarterfinal win, $6 million for a semifinal victory and $6 million for playing in the national championship game.
Add that payout to the exclusive extension Swarbrick signed in 2023 with NBC to televise Irish home games through 2029 (approximately $50 million annually), and Notre Dame in 2024 earned as much media rights money as any program in college football.
Then there’s the gem of a scheduling move Swarbrick made in 2014, in conjunction with the first year of the CFP — all while banking on the format not staying at four teams.
Swarbrick made a deal with the ACC — not with the geographically-friendly Big Ten, where it had existing rivalries — to get the easiest road to the playoff. The move to playing five games a season against the ACC was seen by many university presidents across the sport as a possible nose under the conference tent moment.
Nothing could’ve been further from the truth.
To finish off the spectacular shell game, Swarbrick got the ACC to save Notre Dame’s pandemic season in 2020 by doubling the number of ACC games to 10.
I know this is going to shock you, but Notre Dame advanced to the four-team CFP in 2020 despite losing by 24 to Clemson in the ACC championship game.
Then got drilled by Alabama in the semifinals.
So yeah, there’s history here, but it has nothing to do with recent history on the field — and everything to do with preferential treatment for college football’s biggest television property.
Anyone trying to explain it any other way is foolish.
Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.
