Notre Dame Fans Shocked About #5 Playoff Ranking

Notre Dame fans were more than shocked Tuesday night as the initial College Football Playoff rankings were released on ESPN. Even though they were releasing the teams from bottom to top, they did it rather quickly as to not drag it out to the point of ridiculousness.

My prediction was either #9 or #10.

Then they got up to #7-#10

NO NOTRE DAME? WHAT IS THIS SORCERY?

All of a sudden, all of the Notre Dame fans that were paying attention and graduated from kindergarten were fist pumping over being ranked #6. Of course we were going to be six, with the other teams that were left. That’s cool- we were excited.

Then the telecast decided to really turn up the suspense and released the remaining 6 from top to bottom- OH YOU CHEEKY BASTARDS!

Number five. NUMBER FIVE? NUMBER FIVE!!!

The excitement became a frenzied reality. The committee put Clemson at #1 due in large part to their narrow win at home over the Irish, so… they gave Notre Dame bonus points instead of demerits for that loss. In fact, the committee and Jeff Long in particular, stressed the importance of resume so much, they must think very highly of who the Irish have played and defeated.

They used that same logic as to why Baylor was ranked #6 and TCU #8. None of this went along with the narrative that Notre Dame would get some type of snubs from the committee for the exact same reasons.

I was shocked. Notre Dame fans were shocked. The Internet was buzzing. The College Football Playoff Committee had gone against the grain of the AP and Coaches polls so decisively, it was a reminder of just how different this all is for college football.

Generically, we can say that Notre Dame controls it own destiny, and should even move up a spot due to #2 LSU and #4 Alabama playing this weekend. However, we already have proof that this committee keeps these rankings very fluid as was the case last year with TCU and Baylor and Ohio State.

All we can really say for sure, is that the Irish are in excellent position to be in the final 4 if they win out. Stanford is currently ranked #11 and should move up if it keeps winning. This would put Notre Dame in a prime position, and makes any of that conference talk from the preseason seem even more laughable.

This is all pretty incredible, but it also puts THAT much more pressure on the Irish to win- and to win convincingly. All I know, is that I want another shot at Clemson, and for DeShone Kizer to walk all over Dabo Swinney’s dancing shoes.

HERE WE GO!