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Notre Dame football: 3 reasons the Irish are too low in initial CFP rankings

By Daniel Morrison

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - JANUARY 01: Ian Book #12 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish snaps the ball against the Alabama Crimson Tide during the second quarter in 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 Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - JANUARY 01: Ian Book #12 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish snaps the ball against the Alabama Crimson Tide during the second quarter in 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 Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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SOUTH BEND, IN – OCTOBER 02: Michael Mayer #87 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish is tackled by Darrian Beavers #0 of the Cincinnati Bearcats during the first half at Notre Dame Stadium on October 2, 2021, in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
SOUTH BEND, IN – OCTOBER 02: Michael Mayer #87 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish is tackled by Darrian Beavers #0 of the Cincinnati Bearcats during the first half at Notre Dame Stadium on October 2, 2021, in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

Notre Dame football: 3 reasons the Irish are too low in initial CFP rankings

They’re Artificially Low to Keep Cincinnati Down

Let’s briefly play conspiracy. Cincinnati is currently ranked 2nd in the AP Poll, but 6th in the Playoff Rankings. Everyone knows there is a glass ceiling over Group of Five teams, no matter how good they are. Cincinnati, some people thought, had a shot at breaking that glass ceiling.

That clearly won’t happen now, and it’s seemingly by design.

Thinks about the backend of the rankings. SMU and Houston are both ranked in the AP Poll, and deservedly so, but they’re unranked in the Playoff Rankings. Instead, a laundry list of B1G 10 West teams are taking up prime real estate. Why? Because they will help to artificially inflate the B1G East teams. After all, Minnesota (who lost to Bowling Green) is currently Ohio State’s only ranked win in their top-25.

Notre Dame is Cincinnati’s best win and that’s not going to change. If you follow, they can’t afford to have a strong strength of schedule or resume for the glass ceiling to stay intact without lawsuits flying. So, the Irish are ranked lower than they should be to help keep Cincinnati down.

Yes, this is a bit of a conspiracy, but the truth is that it’s also how they operate.

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