Over the last few weeks there’s been a lot of talk about how the playoffs work both this year and into the future. There is a chance that the next iteration of the College Football Playoffs could change in a way that would allow the Notre Dame football team to get a bye.
This year, of course, the Irish didn’t get a bye but did get to host a home playoff game. And as Marcus Freeman and his crew prepare for the second round tilt against Georgia, the ND head man was asked whether or not he’d prefer the bye or playing at home in the first round.
The catch here is that had Notre Dame football gotten a bye, they’d be in the same boat as the Bulldogs. Kirby Smart’s club is playing its first game of the playoffs but it didn’t get to have that game between the hedges. When asked which he’d prefer, Freeman was diplomatic.
Notre Dame football coach said team embraced week 13
“For us, we knew when it was determined this was the 12-team playoff what our journey would be like and our postseason opportunities would be.”
“So, I think you have to embrace your current circumstance. If I’m going to sit up here and say I
wish I had somebody else’s, you’re making an excuses for the circumstance you have. So, we embrace it.
“Again, we embraced Week 13, which was the conference championship week,
as our bye week. We had to have that mindset. We’re going to use this as our bye week. The
conference champions are going to use the first round as their bye week.
“So that’s the mindset we’ve had. It was an amazing experience to host a home playoff game
versus Indiana in the first round. I think that is — I mean, that was a great experience for college
football and our fans and our players. And now you get a chance to play in a great opportunity that we have versus Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.
Who wins on Wednesday night might be a referendum for Notre Dame football and Georgia.