Notre Dame football: Does just making the CFP help a program?
How has going to the CFP affected Notre Dame football?
Even Notre Dame, what kind of two-season bump after the Clemson Cotton Bowl did the Irish have? Their overall record since that loss is 21-4, as they won the Camping World Bowl, which should have been an invite to the New Year’s Six.
They followed that with an undefeated regular season and a second Playoff berth. How different is that from 2017-18, the two seasons following going 4-8? They had a 22-4 overall record, a Citrus Bowl win, and a Playoff loss.
In essence, nothing changed on the field.
Off the field, in recruiting, 2017 and 2018 produced 10th ranked classes for Notre Dame. Following the Cotton Bowl loss to Clemson, Notre Dame produced the No. 15 class in 2019 and the number 18 class in 2020. Their 2021 class is currently ranked 8th.
Brian Kelly’s first class, the 2010 class, was 15th, while the 2013 class, following the BCS Championship Game, was fifth, and that’s about as good as anyone can expect the Irish to recruit.
The reason that making the Playoff didn’t give them a boost is that more goes into recruiting than whether or not you won a lot. It helps to win a lot, but a coach’s approach to recruiting, a program’s facilities, academic restrictions, a campus’ culture and location, and tons more factor into recruiting.
Saying, “Win and get better recruits” is too simplistic a notion.
You can make the argument that unless you win a Playoff game, there is no tangible benefit to making the Playoff just to lose. Everyone who would have played Alabama was going to lose.
Next. Notre Dame Football vs Alabama Crimson Tide: 3 Things We Learned. dark
Wouldn’t it have been better to get the New Year’s Six monkey off your back, win the Orange Bowl, and have made it through the weird 2020 season with a big positive? Or is that just a defeatist attitude, and we should pretend like making the Playoff is better because hypothetically Notre Dame could have gone to the Championship Game?