Notre Dame Football: Was bias a factor in final Irish ranking?

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PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 30: Head coach Brian Kelly of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish waits in the tunnel with his players before they take the field for their game against the Stanford Cardinal at Stanford Stadium on November 30, 2019 in Palo Alto, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

Notre Dame finished its regular season by going 10-2 on the year, a solid year by most accounts, but good enough for only the 15th rank in college football.

Notre Dame would find itself ranked behind three teams with three losses on the season, leaving one to ask if the national bias against the Irish came into play when giving them a ranking of 15 overall. Here is a closer examination of the teams ahead of the Irish as we dig into whether there is a legitimate beef over where the committee had Notre Dame ranked:

1. The top four teams

Let’s get the first four teams out of the way in the onset. LSU, Ohio State, Clemson and Oklahoma all deserved to be the top four teams playing in the College Football Playoff, there is little to no dispute over that. Anyone who suggests otherwise should be considered for psychiatric evaluation immediately, as these four teams were the most dominant in college football in 2019.

No. 5 Georgia (11-2)

Notre Dame lost to the Bulldogs in their third game of the season, 23-17 in Athens, Georgia. The Bulldogs looked the part of one of the more dominant teams in college football all year, except in the game where they stumbled and gave the game away to unranked South Carolina (20-17). Had they not lost that game, they are likely ranked ahead of Oklahoma for the fourth spot. There is no disputing Georgia should be ranked ahead of Notre Dame.

No. 6 Oregon (11-2)

Oregon had marquee wins against then 25th ranked Washington (35-31) and against ranked Utah in the PAC-12 championship game (37-15). The Ducks would lose two games against Auburn, who was ranked 16th to open the season (27-21) and against an unranked Arizona State team (31-28). As a result, they would finish with a 2-1 record against ranked opponents and would lose one game against an unranked opponent. Oregon and Notre Dame both played USC this season, Notre Dame won at home by a score of 30-27 and Oregon defeated the Trojans on the road 56-24. As a result, the Oregon win is much more impressive. The Ducks also benefit from being ranked five spots higher on the strength of schedule rankings, coming in with a 52.92 ranking versus the Irish ranking of 54.42.

As a result, Oregon should be ranked ahead of the Irish. However, other teams ranked below the Ducks on the top 25 rankings may have legitimate complaints about their overall rank.

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