As a team, we've decided to withdraw our name from consideration for a bowl game following the 2025 season," Notre Dame wrote in a statement. "We appreciate all the support from our families and fans, and we're hoping to bring the 12th national title to South Bend in 2026."
That's really sore looser stuff. Which won't help them on future bids for the playoffs. You just go to the Bowl game you get and don't complain about it. That said they are right. They are better than some teams that got put in before them. But you still have to handle it with class and dignity. This is like little kid stuff. Temper tantrum.
Originally posted by VaBeachNiner:
Time for 64 team tournament.
12 is plenty enough. It's better than the 2 or 4 format. However many you do somebody will be the odd team out. Somebody will be #65, #66 and have a case. You can't do that many more games in football. It's a much rougher game than basketball.
Maybe the team (ND) will vote to go to the Sun Belt conference so they can battle with James Madison for the conference championship and coast their way into the playoffs next year.
That would be the maximum, ultimate FU to the Committee. Do it! Do it.
Before I became a Hog, I grew up loving ND. I still have a limited edition lithograph of the 1988 Championship season autographed by Coach Holtz to prove it. Hell, right next to it, I have an autographed ND "Green Jersey" by Joe Montana. But I am not going to apologize for them. The truth is ND not being in a competitive conference hurt them. This means they stubbornly remain independent. Why? Because they love the money. But it also means, they can schedule who they want, when they want--because they love the money.
Sometimes, they schedule tough games for the future. Still, and though decided years in advance, their schedule does not always play out. This time, it hurt them. Why? They lost their quality games. Yes, they were close. But ND losing early hurt them. In particular, ND losing against two teams (A&M and Miami) that made it into the college football playoff hurt them. You want to in the CFP with ND's schedule? Don't f**king lose.
Yes, they were great in November against NOBODY ranked inside the top 20: Boston College (2-10); NAVY (9-2) (Mad love to Jerry, but their best win for them might be Memphis); Pitt #22 (8-4); Syracuse (3-9); Stanford (4-8). If we count USC, which was not a win in November, then they have a top 20 win.
Having said that, none of the these wins erase the early loses. You want in? huh? DON'T f**kING LOSE--in ND's case--EARLY. Don't. You had no real test on the back end of your schedule that could have helped your case. To an extent, that is not your fault, but that makes it no less true.
In this thread, years ago, I mentioned that I thought CF was in for trouble with NIL and that you needed a salary cap. We still do. This is almost like the old days, but without the veneer of this being an amateur sport. And furthermore, I have said it once, I shall say it again. The teams should be separated from the schools--let the schools make money off of them, but separate them from the academic side of the house. I will add that you also need to take the most viable DI schools and plug them into a conference that mirrors the NFL--those that can afford it, have pedigree, and donors with big bucks. For sure, ND would be in it. They get recruits, they have pedigree, they have fans with spending power, and depending on the division they were in would do well.
If ND insists on continuing this independent b******t, however, which the rest of CF resents because they see it as special treatment when it comes to selection time, then nothing will change. They will occasionally get in when they don't f**k up and people will complain that they are in over team X or something like this year will happen when ND doesn't get in and they point to some metric to justify their inclusion.
ND has a chance to really change, right here, right now. But I would double down on them going for the money, staying independent, and this cycle continuing in the future.
Personally, I can't wait until somebody out there that loves them some ND blames the Hogs AD, Hunter Yurachek, the head of CFP, for f**king over ND on purpose to avenge the HOGS terrible loss to them earlier in the season. I have to tell you, if that was true, that might save his job at Arkansas because outside of getting Coach Cal, he ain't done s**t for the Hogs.
Big statement by ND:
