It’s not a normal day in December if college football teams are not throwing their hands in the air after being left out of the college football playoff. This year, the drama surrounded what the playoff committee should do about Miami, Alabama and Notre Dame.  

After conference championship weekend, it ended up being Miami and Bama getting the nod and the Fighting Irish being left out. While I agree that the committee got it wrong, what has been more disappointing to see is Notre Dame and other schools' reactions to playing in bowl games and not in the playoffs.  

ND was one of nine schools declining the invitation to play a bowl game this season. Moreso in the Fighting Irish’s case, this mentality around not playing in a bowl game shows a quitter's attitude because you did not do what you needed to do to make the playoffs.

Other schools like Kansas State, Baylor and Iowa State were nowhere near consideration for a playoff spot. However, not finishing out the season in a bowl game robs players of closure on a season that did not amount to what they hoped. Of course, any player with draft hype would probably sit out, but that gives guys who have sat on the bench all season an opportunity to make a name for themselves or stand out heading into the next season.  

There is a failure to live with your shortcomings. Not making the playoffs is not a failure necessarily, while it may be an expectation of several programs across the country. Schools like Notre Dame that went 10-2 should still come away proud of what they accomplished. However, since they were left out, they decided not to finish their season strong and show why they should have been included by going into a bowl game and performing.  

On the flipside, Vanderbilt has set an example of taking accountability for their season and still deciding to play in a bowl game. Head coach Clark Lea spoke publicly that it’s on them why they did not make the playoffs.  

Several factors played into the world of college football being what it is right now. In the weeks leading up to the conference championship games, the committee consistently ranked Notre Dame over Miami despite the Hurricanes defeating them earlier this season. After the conference championship games concluded, Miami ended up finally being ranked over Notre Dame and Bama took the Irish’s spot in the playoff.  

The committee got this wrong. The reasoning for putting a three-loss Alabama team in over the Irish is that they did not want to punish a team for making the conference championship. A standard that many pundits said the committee set last season after they put in Southern Methodist University after they lost in the conference championship to Clemson. However, an important detail they left out sets a stark contrast between those two scenarios.  

SMU was a one-loss team and lost by three points, making them a two-loss team heading into the 2025 playoffs. This year, the Crimson Tide was a two-loss team and lost by three scores to the Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC championship. This loss should have booted them out of the playoffs and put Notre Dame and Miami in.  

Now, mainstream narratives are developing that conference championships are becoming meaningless, and teams are going to stop playing them. The committee should have set a precedent that how a team plays in that game matters, no matter the outcome. A conference championship has been a stage where a team on the fringe of earning a playoff spot catapults them into the bracket or knocks them out.  

For example, Ohio State shutting out Wisconsin 59-0 in 2014 pushed them into the first-ever CFP. A couple of seasons later, the Buckeyes defeated the undefeated Badgers, which ultimately knocked them out of the playoffs. Penalizing or rewarding teams based on their performance in this game adds value to it and raises the importance of doing what you need to do to make it into the big dance.  

*Sigh* Okay, rant done.  

On the flipside, this raises another question around Notre Dame. The way the playoff selection played out shows why the Irish need to join a conference. Currently, they are an independent school. This means they don’t have a conference championship game to play in. Had they been playing in a conference championship game this weekend, they probably would not have been worried about being left out.  

The Irish need to join a conference, either the Big Ten or the Atlantic Coast Conference. The committee needs to refine its criteria on what a playoff team needs to have on its resume for the season. We can’t keep discussing expanding the playoffs every year to allow more teams because a program throws a tantrum for being left out. Lastly, schools need to keep playing bowl games and not skip out on them because they did not live up to their own expectations.