Re: ESPN Is Reporting...
Notre Dame got their eyes beaten out, as we all expected. But their record for the season was very respectable and I thought they earned their way in. The teams they scheduled were solid. I know some of the records of the teams they beat were sketchy, but you don't know that when you make your schedule. It is only fair to believe that USC, Michigan, and Stanford are going to be solid wins when you put them in your lineup to play a few years in advance. Add in some mid-level teams from other conferences, and I can support who they played and beat as evidence they deserved to get in and lose the way they did.
Well, FSU were the defending champs and undefeated, iirc. It would have been ridiculous to leave them out that year, regardless of how they ended up doing in their playoff game. As much as we do not respect the Pac-whatever that number is, the Huskies did only have one loss that year, to an improving USC team, along with some really big wins in their conference. And MSU's one loss was by one point to an admittedly bad Nebraska team. We know all these teams' results in the playoffs, but I don't see anything in there that screams they should be omitted from consideration. I do somewhat agree on Clemson 2017 though.
Notre Dame got their eyes beaten out, as we all expected. But their record for the season was very respectable and I thought they earned their way in. The teams they scheduled were solid. I know some of the records of the teams they beat were sketchy, but you don't know that when you make your schedule. It is only fair to believe that USC, Michigan, and Stanford are going to be solid wins when you put them in your lineup to play a few years in advance. Add in some mid-level teams from other conferences, and I can support who they played and beat as evidence they deserved to get in and lose the way they did.
