Rose Bowl post-mortem: Is Notre Dame football closer to Alabama or Pitt?

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - JANUARY 01: Running back Najee Harris #22 of the Alabama Crimson Tide leaps cornerback Nick McCloud #4 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the first quarter of the 2021 College Football Playoff Semifinal Game at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Capital One at AT&T Stadium on January 01, 2021 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) /

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The Notre Dame football team has a lot of question marks heading into 2021. (Photo by Ronald C. Modra/Getty Images) /

As we turn the page on the 2021 Rose Bowl, the question must be answered. Are the Fighting Irish closer to Alabama or Pitt?

Let’s make one thing clear, there is a gap between the top two or three teams in college football and the rest of the pack. We’ve seen it for years, and it was evident when the Notre Dame football team took on Alabama in the 2021 Rose Bowl.

The four-seed in the College Football Playoff stands no chance of winning, and the three seeds often struggle. It’s not to knock Notre Dame, saying they aren’t close to Alabama, it’s just reality.

The questions has been, and continues to be, how do you close that gap?

There is another worthwhile question to ask, and that is, how big is the gap? It helps to know how big a gap is to close said gap, as well as what causes that gap. So, here, we ask the question, is Notre Dame closer to Alabama or Pitt. Pitt is a middling a Power 5 team, and again, this isn’t an issue limited to Notre Dame, they’re just the latest victim.

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