The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will compete in the College Football Playoff semifinals Thursday night. With a 13-1 record and back-to-back victories over top 10 teams, they’ve shown to be one of the top teams in the country, but the fine details about the Fighting Irish’s season were scrutinized in a social media post by a college football analyst.
CFB Analyst Claims Notre Dame Has ‘Hacked’ College Football Playoff
Ahead of Notre Dame’s Orange Bowl matchup against the Penn State Nittany Lions, one college football analyst had something to say about the Fighting Irish and their path to the College Football Playoff, as well as the potential implications of a win.
CBS Sports’ Danny Kanell posted the take on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Notre Dame has essentially hacked the CFP.”
Notre Dame has essentially hacked the CFP
Easiest schedule
Don't have to play a conf champ game
Most likely get home playoff gameThe kicker?
If they make the natty – they get $20 mil all to themselves.
For perspective: OSU gets $1.1 mil – share the rest with rest of B10
— Danny Kanell (@dannykanell) January 9, 2025
Kanell went on to list that Notre Dame has the easiest schedule, doesn’t have to play in a conference championship game. They’re an independent and, thus, most likely to get a home playoff game.
Due to its independence from a conference, Notre Dame has the ability to craft its entire schedule. In 2024, the Fighting Irish faced four ranked teams at the time of the matchup — with two of them being Army and Navy.
Despite an early-season loss to the Northern Illinois Huskies, Notre Dame breezed through the schedule with 10 double-digit victories, landing them a spot in the College Football Playoff.
Kanell’s second point also favors the Fighting Irish. The absence of a conference means one less challenging game — and potential loss — on the résumé.
The downside to not having a conference championship game is that Notre Dame doesn’t qualify for a bye in the CFP, but it did allow them to have a home playoff game, in which they breezed by the Indiana Hoosiers, 27-17, in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score suggested.
In this arguably flawed version of the CFP, a home playoff game against an inferior opponent provided a perfect warm-up for the Fighting Irish before they dismantled the Georgia Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl.
Out of all the teams in the country, it’s not hard to see that Notre Dame has had a favorable draw that has led them to this point. They’ll matchup with the Nittany Lions on Thursday night, where they’ll face their biggest test yet.
Kanell’s post continued.
“The kicker? If they [Notre Dame] make the natty – they get $20 mil all to themselves. For perspective: OSU gets $1.1 mil – share the rest with rest of B10.”
It’s one thing when the system regarding the competition on the field favors a team. But when financial “loopholes” of this magnitude appear, it’s glaring. Revenue sharing requires Penn State to spread the revenue evenly across the conference for a national championship appearance. Conference-less Notre Dame, however, takes it all.
This argument isn’t meant to discount the season the Fighting Irish have had to this point. The toughness shown by quarterback Riley Leonard throughout the year has been a perfect image of what college football is all about.
Following the Week 2 loss, the players and coaches took care of business, handling every opponent in front of them. They defeated two top-10 opponents in dominant fashion on their way to the College Football Playoff semifinals.
MORE: Simulate the College Football Playoffs with CFN’s College Football Playoff Predictor
The fact of the matter is that Notre Dame is, at the current moment, taking advantage of the system in place. They’re “playing the system,” if you will.
The entire structure of the CFP needs to be reexamined following this season. And Notre Dame’s inclusion (and what that exactly looks like) should be high on the list of things that need a long, hard look.
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