They could have kicked ND out at 11-1
What would have stopped them ? All they had to do is move them down a couple spots a week. They would still have head to head loss vs. Miami lets say.
Replies to: They could have kicked ND out at 11-1
If ND enjoys its indepedence. Dont lose. Simple as that.
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Doubt they would, but the definitely showed they can do whatever they want
And with ND, the media and fans will side with them.
That's why the MOU for 2026 is meaningless & should never have been made public.
Since ESPN mans the controls, they will decide who's "ranked" 13 and you're all going to shut up and like it. If not, they will release Wilbon and his media pals on you.
Ahhhh Wilbon
The guy who rants and raves about the lack of black coaches in college football and then when the biggest brand hires one and he’s incredibly successful, he tries to tear the program down. The hate for ND trumps all.
He's the guy screaming about ND whining while he's whining about it. No self awareness.
The other day on Chicago radio, he was on a rant about ND while supporting JMU in the playoffs. He said JMU doesn't have the resources ND has so JMU deserves to be in. He likes the field to be diversified. You'd think at some point the hosts would challenge the guy but they just kept quiet. I thought Tom Waddle had more guts than what he showed that day. He doesn't.
It's possible with this system...if they believe their controlled media can give them enough cover..
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Per the head to head logic, ND should have
been behind Miami no matter who Miami lost to or how bad. They could have lost to SMU by 70-0, but head to head. They could have lost to Loiusville same way, but head to head.
It's such a ridiculous tie breaker unless all other things are equal. Like if ND lost late in the season to two unranked teams, then fine head to head controls.
But if head to head controls, no matter what then Florida St. Should be in over Bama.
In 1993 the (stated) rationale was that ND's loss was later and "worse". In 2025, Miami's 2 losses
...were both later in time and worse losses.
Shows that the result was determined first...the justification was just filled in later...
That's how I see it.
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And A&M under your silly scenario?
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That's why the "ND plays a weak schedule" mantra is touted.
To do what they will ranking ND. Or when they choose, ignore it and put in a James Madison over the ACC champ. Let's just finagle the rankings a bit. Oh look a team that played nobody all year is the highest ranked conference champ.
I doubt it.
The thing about a conspiracy is that you can't be to obvious. It has to be just credible enough to be believable by most. Miami over ND? Sure, head to head. Alabama over ND? Sure, tougher schedule.
But at 11-1, ND would have been safely in at around 2/3. Miami would have been kicked out with a two loss record and no one would have been concerned at all. It would have tested all credibility to move an 11-1 ND down past so many 10-2 teams and then drop out of the final rankings.
The thing I keep reminding myself is that there was a perfect storm of events that happened to screw us. I truly believe that the committee actually wanted us in. If they had their way, I suspect we would have been selected over both Alabama and Miami. But an unfortunate loss to Oklahoma by Bama here, a Duke over Virginia there, and a few other events put them in the position of - credibly - having to decide between the SEC runner up, leaving out the ACC altogether, or us. And politics being what it is... Had Bama beat Oklahoma, the Sooners would be on the outside looking in and we'd be playing. Had Virginia made the comeback, Miami would be out while Virginia and ND are in. Had the holding call been made during the A&M game... Yeah. Same result.
We did get screwed but, ultimately, this was a weird season that just so happened to line up for us to be able to get screwed.
Lets take care of business next season and win the whole thing.
Can't be too obvious? I think there's been a lot of obvious ones lately.
You just have to be clever enough to fool the people who are already in your camp but not involved. Feed them your bullet points. They won't gripe until the result of the conspiracy hits home for them.
Then commence acting like an totalitarian oligarchy. We've seen it world wide lately. It's pervasive.
Alabama's performance against Auburn and in the SEC championship suggest otherwise.
If the "committee wanted us in", they could have easily done so.
Bama jumping us after Auburn because of a strong first half and a gutsy 4th down call? Negative rushing yards in the Georgia game and penalizing all other conference championship losers?
They wanted Bama in and did what it took to make that happen. The ACC was also guaranteed a spot and got one.
My question is who has more influence -- espn or the SEC?
For Bama, the fix was in. They rose after a bad win and then never dropped after getting killed. If
ND were to just squeak by Stanford or any other bad or average team, the Committee would have dropped ND in the rankings due to the eye test. The Committee obviously didn't use the eye test for Bama. This Committee has no credibility. Both BYU and Bama got smoked in their championship games. BYU was punished and dropped. Bama stayed. That's all we need to know about this corrupt Playoff Committee.
Yep, it was far to subjective. There has to be limits on the committee's subjective assessments. And
Public access to their discussions which should be recorded.
If Virginia won I think Virginia and Miami would have both been in
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