The narrative surrounding Notre Dame's resurgence has been carefully crafted and aggressively marketed. After stumbling out of the gate with losses to Miami and Texas A&M, the Fighting Irish rattled off ten consecutive victories to work their way into the college football conversation. Their recent dominance has earned them respect, hype, and a seemingly legitimate shot at playoff inclusion. But here's the uncomfortable truth that needs to be addressed: Notre Dame shouldn't be anywhere near the 12-team College Football Playoff field, regardless of their recent success.​

Yes, you read that correctly. The wins have been impressive on the surface. Double-digit victories over respectable opponents like USC, Pittsburgh, and Boston College look great in highlight reels and social media clips. But when you peel back the layers and examine the fundamental weaknesses in Notre Dame's resume, the case for exclusion becomes far more compelling than the narrative being sold to playoff committee members.​

The Weight of Early-Season Incompetence Cannot Be Ignored

Let's establish something fundamental: how you start matters. Notre Dame didn't just lose two games to open the season; they lost to teams that exposed legitimate structural problems with the program. The defeat to Miami came in heartbreaking fashion on a last-second field goal, but the loss to Texas A&M was far more damaging in terms of demonstrating fundamental inadequacy. A&M needed a miraculous fourth-and-13 touchdown pass to escape, yet Notre Dame's defense simply couldn't execute when it mattered most.​

Here's where the committee needs to draw a line in the sand: winning ten straight games against predominantly inferior competition does not erase the reality of starting 0-2. The Fighting Irish had an entire offseason to prepare, a massive recruiting advantage as a blue-blood program, and access to resources that rival every other program in the country. Yet they came out flat and unprepared in consecutive games against quality opponents. That's not bad luck; that's bad coaching and poor roster construction.

Furthermore, Notre Dame's strength of schedule remains substantially weaker than teams they're competing with for playoff positioning. Yes, they beat USC, but that victory looks increasingly hollow as the Trojans have underwhelmed throughout the season. Compare Notre Dame's overall schedule to programs like Ohio State, Indiana, Texas A&M, and Texas—the disparity in competition level is glaring and impossible to rationalize away.​

Article Continues Below

Character and Consistency Matter More Than Recency Bias

The college football playoff should reward consistency, resilience, and program identity. Notre Dame demonstrated none of these qualities in their opening two weeks. You cannot convince a reasonable observer that a team that loses to Miami (however narrowly) and then follows it up with a loss to a Texas A&M team that survived a miracle fourth-down conversion somehow deserves to compete for a national championship.​


The selection committee is tasked with ranking teams based on “performance on the field, conference championships won, strength of schedule, head-to-head results, and comparison of results against common opponents.” When you actually apply these criteria objectively, Notre Dame falls short in multiple categories. They play in no conference, meaning there's no championship credential to hang their hat on. Their schedule, as mentioned, is significantly weaker than playoff-caliber programs. And their head-to-head results include two losses to opponents that haven't proven themselves to be elite.​

Yes, Notre Dame's win streak is impressive statistically. But stringing together victories against Syracuse, Navy, Stanford, and Boston College—programs that routinely underperform—doesn't suddenly erase two weeks of demonstrable failure against quality opposition. Ten wins against middling competition shouldn't outweigh early losses that revealed character flaws and preparedness issues.

The committee needs to ask itself a critical question: Do we reward a team for getting hot at exactly the right time, or do we reward teams that proved throughout the entire season they belong in an elite eight-team championship field? Notre Dame's answer to that question comes down decisively on the wrong side of that ledger.