…in the name of keeping my B1G/Oregon Ducks homer mentality in check, if the Ducks were in the same position as the Irish, I would say the same thing. The Art of Becoming a “No-Brainer” Regarding the NCAA basketball tournament,  I laugh out loud (which means “LOL”) when teams on the bubble claim to be getting screwed over by the ...

It's A No-Brainer: Notre Dame Deserved It, And...

Darren, I always enjoy your articles that you write for Our Beloved Duck Forum. Now that is a NO-Brainer!

"In fact, things are totally in your control: Win more games!" Well said, Darren. Thanks for today's article!

A&M would've dropped to 4th in the old format after they lost to Texas.

No team that loses 2 or more games “deserves” anything. At that point, your fate is determined by the committee. Oregon would have been in the exact same position had we lost to USC or Washington. If you want a guarantee, win your games.

Furthermore, Notre Dame and the conferences designed and agreed upon this playoff format. Next year, Notre Dame is evidently guaranteed a playoff spot, if they finish in the top 12. What about Oregon or any other team from the major conferences?! Why should Notre Dame get preferential treatment?

Of course you can make the case that Notre Dame is more “worthy” than some of the teams selected (e.g., Alabama) but I wouldn’t have put them in over a team with an identical record who beat them on the field…

Edited 14 hours ago14 hr by OregonDucks

Notre Dame is one of the best 12 teams, but so is Vanderbilt. Actually Vanderbilt is more worthy. But the difference is, Vanderbilt took it in stride. They had even attempted to schedule a thirteenth game to bolster their resume. Their coach said he was disappointed, but they were going to show out in their bowl.

Notre Dame is like the spoiled kid that gets whatever they want, and think it's outrageous that things would ever not. I respect what they can do on the field, I'd rather see them playing Oregon, and Vanderbilt playing Ole Miss. But everybody signed off on this format. Notre Dame chooses to not be in a conference, they knew they had a three game schedule. They lost to a team that had a similar season.

Now they are acting like spoiled brats. They had the right to complain about being left, but they've taken it too far. They attacked a conference that gave them full voting rights, a share of the ACC network revenue, and a lifeline in 2020 that got them into the playoff.

They won't dare go after the SEC, they know that's a fight even they won't win. Alabama is the team that they should be railing against, but they dare not anger them. They might just find the SEC, and B1G questioning why Notre Dame has a seat at the table, and why they could take away revenue by making a playoff. Revenue they don't share with anybody.

Keep pushing Notre Dame, keep trying your luck. You might come to find that even the luck of the Irish runs out eventually.

ND is being ridiculous as they have enjoyed a favored status for decades. Generally I have enjoyed their usual post season beat down as an undeserving team. I particularly enjoyed Oregon State's 41 to 9 Fiesta Bowl win in 2001.

31 minutes ago, GatOrlando said:

Notre Dame is one of the best 12 teams, but so is Vanderbilt. Actually Vanderbilt is more worthy. But the difference is, Vanderbilt took it in stride. They had even attempted to schedule a thirteenth game to bolster their resume. Their coach said he was disappointed, but they were going to show out in their bowl.

Notre Dame is like the spoiled kid that gets whatever they want, and think it's outrageous that things would ever not. I respect what they can do on the field, I'd rather see them playing Oregon, and Vanderbilt playing Ole Miss. But everybody signed off on this format. Notre Dame chooses to not be in a conference, they knew they had a three game schedule. They lost to a team that had a similar season.

Now they are acting like spoiled brats. They had the right to complain about being left, but they've taken it too far. They attacked a conference that gave them full voting rights, a share of the ACC network revenue, and a lifeline in 2020 that got them into the playoff.

They won't dare go after the SEC, they know that's a fight even they won't win. Alabama is the team that they should be railing against, but they dare not anger them. They might just find the SEC, and B1G questioning why Notre Dame has a seat at the table, and why they could take away revenue by making a playoff. Revenue they don't share with anybody.

Keep pushing Notre Dame, keep trying your luck. You might come to find that even the luck of the Irish runs out eventually.

I was getting ready to draft a post, but basically you took the words right out of my mouth.

So, I really have nothing more to say on the subject. You nailed it here.

Darren...you are so right. Oregon would have been hosed in the four-team system, just as ND was this year. Perhaps this will speed us to 16 teams, and no byes to open the Playoffs? No. 1 plays No. 16, and so on as usual seeding takes place. Yes the G6 teams can have a slot or two, but the big babies (SEC and ND) would have had all their wishes granted.

And I love your writing style!

Great read!

The only outrage is with ND and their fans, or perhaps NBC…same as every year with the first team out in every college sport.

Ole Miss, TAM, OBD…all would have had cause to be outraged in the old 4 team PO. These giant, unbalanced conferences of 2025 would not have worked well at all in the 4 team format.

Edited 12 hours ago12 hr by JabbaNoBargain

Time to breakup traditional conferences and go to an NFL style conf/division format. No rankings, just win your games. Get the human factor out of it. Problem is how do you set it all up. That's probably a topic for another conversation. If it did happen then ND along with TX and BYU would be in. Going to 16 games just pushes the "Why is my team left out?" further down the list. College football at the FBS level has always been behind the times. Time to move forward.

Edited 11 hours ago11 hr by GODUCKS15

Thanks, Darren. Insightful and humorous as always. Plus, I love it that you and David Marsh do not simply request comments, but that you both stick around to participate in post-article discussions.

If the NCAA managed the FBS postseason, we would have a PO with a 16-team or more field. There would be no ranking show teasers. Top teams would play home games up to the semifinals on January 1st.

The CBB tournament has a much larger field, and the controversy of not being one of 68 teams in the field was more about ESPN (there they go again), giving Dickie V a platform to rant from.

The CBB committee discloses its metrics and the use thereof to the public. As the season progresses, you know the teams that had the top, Quad 1 wins, which are given greater value, and the teams that may look good but have played tripe.

One month before the Selection Show, the CBB committee releases its top 16. If the final selections and rankings do not appear to match the early ranking and the committee's metrics, the CBB committee chair explains why, and questions are not dodged.

Unlike CBB, CFB teams do not play enough games against the better teams out of conference (OOC), and also in today's mega-conferences, where in-conference schedules vary widely. There is not enough data to subjectively determine who is the 'most deserving,' 'the best, ' or any of the other nonsense fed to us by ESPN.

Selectively fed to us peasants, the CFB committee hides the metrics it uses like squirrels hiding their nuts.

If the sausage grinder is broken, don't expect good sausage. The PO format is FUBAR!

Tony Petitti laid out the formula that reflects the reality of today's game and the quality of the participants, and was booed off the stage by folks who would have made millions more dollars this season if Tony's automatic qualifier had been used to select the teams. This includes the SEC.

UVA and BYU would be in a 16-team field. So would Notre Dame, Texas, Vanderbilt, and USC. This would destroy the regular season?

Teams with brutal in-conference schedules, say a 3-loss Florida and Wisconsin this season, would have had the opportunity to play their way into the field on the final weekend of the regular season.

Teams are mutually canceling P4 OOC matchups. Why not. OOC, the nation's No. 1 team chomped down on three cupcakes without having to leave home.

Next season, Notre Dame opens with Wisconsin in Green Bay and then hosts Rice. One 2025 PO team is on the schedule, No. 10 Miami in South Bend. The only other game against a team ranked by the committee is the regular-season finale against No. 16 USC in LA.

By comparison, next season, Ohio State plays two PO teams, plus two other top 25-ranked teams in conference, and also plays at Texas.

The Irish schedule is serendipitously set up for success. Why is Texas hosting Ohio State? Why is Michigan hosting Oklahoma? CBF is big business; these marquee OOC games make no business sense. The format encourages fan disappointment, not looking forward to excitement.

PO expansion talks are ongoing. I'm hopeful that come January 23rd, if not sooner, CFB will have an expanded PO field in 2026-27, with Tony P holding AQ format firm. And with ESPN's teaser rankings limited.

Meanwhile - Dunk the Dukes!

5 hours ago, Smith72 said:

Darren, I always enjoy your articles that you write for Our Beloved Duck Forum. Now that is a NO-Brainer!

"In fact, things are totally in your control: Win more games!" Well said, Darren. Thanks for today's article!

Thank you! thanks for reading.

4 hours ago, DrJacksPlaidPants said:

A&M would've dropped to 4th in the old format after they lost to Texas.

Very possible, i see what you're saying.

2 hours ago, OregonDucks said:

No team that loses 2 or more games “deserves” anything. At that point, your fate is determined by the committee. Oregon would have been in the exact same position had we lost to USC or Washington. If you want a guarantee, win your games.

Furthermore, Notre Dame and the conferences designed and agreed upon this playoff format. Next year, Notre Dame is evidently guaranteed a playoff spot, if they finish in the top 12. What about Oregon or any other team from the major conferences?! Why should Notre Dame get preferential treatment?

Of course you can make the case that Notre Dame is more “worthy” than some of the teams selected (e.g., Alabama) but I wouldn’t have put them in over a team with an identical record who beat them on the field…

Totally, they can disagree all they want, but playing the "victim" is off-putting.

2 hours ago, GatOrlando said:

Notre Dame is one of the best 12 teams, but so is Vanderbilt. Actually Vanderbilt is more worthy. But the difference is, Vanderbilt took it in stride. They had even attempted to schedule a thirteenth game to bolster their resume. Their coach said he was disappointed, but they were going to show out in their bowl.

Notre Dame is like the spoiled kid that gets whatever they want, and think it's outrageous that things would ever not. I respect what they can do on the field, I'd rather see them playing Oregon, and Vanderbilt playing Ole Miss. But everybody signed off on this format. Notre Dame chooses to not be in a conference, they knew they had a three game schedule. They lost to a team that had a similar season.

Now they are acting like spoiled brats. They had the right to complain about being left, but they've taken it too far. They attacked a conference that gave them full voting rights, a share of the ACC network revenue, and a lifeline in 2020 that got them into the playoff.

They won't dare go after the SEC, they know that's a fight even they won't win. Alabama is the team that they should be railing against, but they dare not anger them. They might just find the SEC, and B1G questioning why Notre Dame has a seat at the table, and why they could take away revenue by making a playoff. Revenue they don't share with anybody.

Keep pushing Notre Dame, keep trying your luck. You might come to find that even the luck of the Irish runs out eventually.

And correct me if i'm wrong, but the conference will get more money to distribute, while ND would take all of the post-season cash. Of course the ACC is going to want Miami. This is the price you pay, ND, for not fully committing to the conference.

Go fly a kite!!! (keeping it PG)

2 hours ago, TheRunningDuck said:

ND is being ridiculous as they have enjoyed a favored status for decades. Generally I have enjoyed their usual post season beat down as an undeserving team. I particularly enjoyed Oregon State's 41 to 9 Fiesta Bowl win in 2001.

And how bout when they made the title game in 2012 when the Ducks were clearly better. Go away, ND!

1 hour ago, Charles Fischer said:

Darren...you are so right. Oregon would have been hosed in the four-team system, just as ND was this year. Perhaps this will speed us to 16 teams, and no byes to open the Playoffs? No. 1 plays No. 16, and so on as usual seeding takes place. Yes the G6 teams can have a slot or two, but the big babies (SEC and ND) would have had all their wishes granted.

And I love your writing style!

Thanks, Charles I would prefer a 14 team playoff with 2 byes. It gives the ultra no-brainers soemthing to play for down the stretch. But, what do i know. A conversation for another day. Along with having the quarters as home games, fans will get fatigue in a couple years with all the travel once the "newness" of the playoff wears off. Oh, and adios to the conference title games.

22 minutes ago, GODUCKS15 said:

Time to breakup traditional conferences and go to an NFL style conf/division format. No rankings, just win your games. Get the human factor out of it. Problem is how do you set it all up. That's probably a topic for another conversation. If it did happen then ND along with TX and BYU would be in. Going to 16 games just pushes the "Why is my team left out?" further down the list. College football at the FBS level has always been behind the times. Time to move forward.

Agree, and will probably happen in the early 2030s when the conference television contracts are up. And bye bye bowls, you had a great century plus run.

42 minutes ago, Jon Joseph said:

Thanks, Darren. Insightful and humorous as always. Plus, I love it that you and David Marsh do not simply request comments, but that you both stick around to participate in post-article discussions.

If the NCAA managed the FBS postseason, we would have a PO with a 16-team or more field. There would be no ranking show teasers. Top teams would play home games up to the semifinals on January 1st.

The CBB tournament has a much larger field, and the controversy of not being one of 68 teams in the field was more about ESPN (there they go again), giving Dickie V a platform to rant from.

The CBB committee discloses its metrics and the use thereof to the public. As the season progresses, you know the teams that had the top, Quad 1 wins, which are given greater value, and the teams that may look good but have played tripe.

One month before the Selection Show, the CBB committee releases its top 16. If the final selections and rankings do not appear to match the early ranking and the committee's metrics, the CBB committee chair explains why, and questions are not dodged.

Unlike CBB, CFB teams do not play enough games against the better teams out of conference (OOC), and also in today's mega-conferences, where in-conference schedules vary widely. There is not enough data to subjectively determine who is the 'most deserving,' 'the best, ' or any of the other nonsense fed to us by ESPN.

Selectively fed to us peasants, the CFB committee hides the metrics it uses like squirrels hiding their nuts.

If the sausage grinder is broken, don't expect good sausage. The PO format is FUBAR!

Tony Petitti laid out the formula that reflects the reality of today's game and the quality of the participants, and was booed off the stage by folks who would have made millions more dollars this season if Tony's automatic qualifier had been used to select the teams. This includes the SEC.

UVA and BYU would be in a 16-team field. So would Notre Dame, Texas, Vanderbilt, and USC. This would destroy the regular season?

Teams with brutal in-conference schedules, say a 3-loss Florida and Wisconsin this season, would have had the opportunity to play their way into the field on the final weekend of the regular season.

Teams are mutually canceling P4 OOC matchups. Why not. OOC, the nation's No. 1 team chomped down on three cupcakes without having to leave home.

Next season, Notre Dame opens with Wisconsin in Green Bay and then hosts Rice. One 2025 PO team is on the schedule, No. 10 Miami in South Bend. The only other game against a team ranked by the committee is the regular-season finale against No. 16 USC in LA.

By comparison, next season, Ohio State plays two PO teams, plus two other top 25-ranked teams in conference, and also plays at Texas.

The Irish schedule is serendipitously set up for success. Why is Texas hosting Ohio State? Why is Michigan hosting Oklahoma? CBF is big business; these marquee OOC games make no business sense. The format encourages fan disappointment, not looking forward to excitement.

PO expansion talks are ongoing. I'm hopeful that come January 23rd, if not sooner, CFB will have an expanded PO field in 2026-27, with Tony P holding AQ format firm. And with ESPN's teaser rankings limited.

Meanwhile - Dunk the Dukes!

Lots of great input as always. Thanks, Jon!

The politics of college football is exhausting.

Now that we have a CFP there will always be teams on the bubble that have legitimate arguments for being included.

Bowl games outside of the CFP are a risk for injury in meaningless games. Eliminating bowl games, and expanding the CFP makes the most economic sense to me.

However, agreeing on an expanded format simply shows the chaos of what management by committee is all about.

53 minutes ago, Jon Joseph said:

Next season, Notre Dame opens with Wisconsin in Green Bay and then hosts Rice. One 2025 PO team is on the schedule, No. 10 Miami in South Bend. The only other game against a team ranked by the committee is the regular-season finale against No. 16 USC in LA…The Irish schedule is serendipitously set up for success.

You left out the best part of Notre Dame’s schedule next season - they only play 3 true road games! All the rest are at home or at neutral sites.

https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/notre-dames-2026-football-schedule-141110074.html

Edited 10 hours ago10 hr by OregonDucks

As predicted by Darren and others, the Last LA Bowl will be played for the last time on Saturday, ABC, 5 PM Pacific, between UWho and (never, ever, schedule) Boise State.

'Prominent Bowl?' WOOF!

Prominent college football bowl game is being canceled

11 minutes ago, OregonDucks said:

You left out the best part of Notre Dame’s schedule next season - they only play 3 true road games! All the rest are at home or at neutral sites.

https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/notre-dames-2026-football-schedule-141110074.html

Thanks for this nugget. Three teams on the ND schedule had winning records this season: Miami, SMU, and USC.

The only road game the Irish play against a 2025-ranked opponent is the last game of the season trip to LA. 😧

SC, please do your part to stop this SCAM.

Other programs ticked off about the PO committee deal that will have a top-12-ranked ND automatically qualifying next season are threatening to stop playing ND.

Hypocritical? ND chastised Tony Petitti's PO plan for having automatic qualifiers.

PO Poohbahs - Knute Rockne and the Gipper left the building about 100 years ago. 🤬

When I was in high school we called girls who went around with their noses in the air thinking they were better than everyone else "stuck up". Notre Dame thinks they are better than everyone else and that they deserve special treatment. Like the "stuck up" high school girls, the Irish well be left out of the really important events. They have sullied their only conference landing spot and have no prom to attend, so they will sit home alone.

Thanks again for the article!

This is in no way a defense of ND--I like that they're excluded--but I'm still a bit burned that Miami got in. My rationale:

Head-to-head matchups should matter, but only increasingly as the year goes on and teams develop. For example, the Ducks got blown out by GA in Dan Lanning's first year. However, I'll bet the game is closer if they had played again at the end of the year.

My point, when Miami and ND faced off in week one, no one had any idea what to expect. ND lost by 3. In my mind, that game is a wash for both teams.

ND then lost the next week to TA&M by 1 point. ND's two losses were at the very beginning of the year, when teams are NOT the teams they'll be by the end, and ND lost to two very good teams by a total of 4 points.

In my mind, what happens the remainder of the year is more important. ND continued to win and appear to get better while Miami lost to two unranked teams . . . should be game over for Miami.

Your overall point--one I agree with wholeheartedly--is that teams that just missed out on the 12-team playoff need to be quiet, because they are miles from qualifying for a 4-team playoff.

My favorite justification for an expanded playoff was that the pool would be large enough to remove any risk of potentially leaving out a national championship caliber team.

With 12, all teams capable of winning the Natty are in, and they're likely in the top 5-7 . . . definitely not in the 10-13 rank.

But who knows, I guess . . . that's why they play the games.

9 hours ago, Darren Perkins said:

And correct me if i'm wrong, but the conference will get more money to distribute, while ND would take all of the post-season cash. Of course the ACC is going to want Miami. This is the price you pay, ND, for not fully committing to the conference.

Go fly a kite!!! (keeping it PG)

That is one hundred percent true, it's almost hard to conceive that the athletic director could be that foolish. Also, there is no written rule about their inclusion if they are top 12. It's a Notre Dame line of thinking, if it was in place, we all know Notre Dame would be taking everybody to court.

What they are doing, is making the B1G and SEC rethink Notre Dame having a seat. We all know who controls the playoff. You know Sankey, or Petitti will gladly make additional space for one of their programs, and Notre Dame isn't the end all.

Of the top 25 most viewed games in 2025, Notre Dame had one. It was against Miami. Turns out that people won't just turn in to see Notre Dame crush West Texas, Apple Tech, Moogerville, or ND Poly Tech. Maybe the Irish can get a deal with the new PAC Who. I'm sure people will tune in to see Notre Dame vs Boise State..... Well actually no, we got that matchup this past year. It didn't draw a top 100 ranked game this year. Utah vs UCLA had a better rating.