Notre Dame football: Does just making the CFP help a program?

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - DECEMBER 29: A Notre Dame Fighting Irish cheerleader waves a flag during the College Football Playoff Semifinal Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic against the Clemson Tigers at AT&T Stadium on December 29, 2018 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

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Perception definitely matters in college football. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

Perception matters

Perception matters for several reasons in college football. The perceived strength of schedule can keep teams on the outside looking in, just look at the G5 and the AAC in particular. It also matters to recruits that they see the school they go to as a place where they can win major games on the biggest stage.

Being able to go there is nice, but winning is even better.

Some say that making the Playoff gives the program a bump, and there is some truth to that, but there’s a lot of other factors at play. Washington made the 2016 College Football Playoff, where Alabama dominated them. The next two seasons, the Huskies were good, but no better than 2016, making two New Year’s Six games and winning the PAC-12 once, but with three and four-loss seasons respectively.

Last year, their coach retired and they went 8-5. The year before Washington made it, 2015, Michigan State made it as a one-loss B1G Champion. They lost 38-0 to Alabama, then in 2016, they went 3-9.

Between 2017 and 2020, they’ve had one season with more than seven wins. The Spartans fell off the map.

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