2024 College Football Playoffs

[Rockin’Irish]

Can someone explain how SMU clinched a spot in the ACC championship game? Is it through the transitive property? Because if SMU were to lose this week, they’d have the same record as Clemson and Miami (assuming Miami wins too).

So what is the criteria for the ACC?

If you go to TheACC.com, there is a good explanation on their Tiebreaker Policy.

 

[IrishLax]

This would be awesome. ND would be the best or second best team on that entire side of the bracket.

 

[GowerND11]

This would be awesome. ND would be the best or second best team on that entire side of the bracket.

Still awful putting PSU ahead of us because… 🤷‍♂️

 

[NDMatt91]

Still awful putting PSU ahead of us because… 🤷‍♂️

All we had to do was not lose to NIU. It sucks, but it is what it is.

 

[IrishFren]

if ND were to host Indiana in the first round of the playoff, would the stadium be under threat of a sea of red?

 

[Irish#1]

if ND were to host Indiana in the first round of the playoff, would the stadium be under threat of a sea of red?

I doubt it. They might sell out their allotment but I have my doubts.

 

[Rockin’Irish]

if ND were to host Indiana in the first round of the playoff, would the stadium be under threat of a sea of red?

Only from the bloodbath resulting from the ND victory…….

 

[stlnd01]

if ND were to host Indiana in the first round of the playoff, would the stadium be under threat of a sea of red?

Maybe if we adopted red as our color?

 

[NDPhilly]

In my head I feel like we have too many imperfections (passing game, FG kicking, DL depth), too be a legit title contender but it’s tough to argue with (1) how we’ve just absolutely dominated teams by suffocating them defensively and (2) it generally being a weak year at the top, and no team is perfect.

We’re so used to the Bama / Georgia super teams at the top of the sport that are essentially perfect that we’re not appreciating how close we are to the top this year.

We’ve also been so beat down as ND fans over the last 30 years that none of us can actually believe we have a title shot. If we handle USC, hopefully we get some actual championship hype around here, not just “a home playoff game would be cool”.

 

[Cackalacky2.0]

In my head I feel like we have too many imperfections (passing game, FG kicking, DL depth), too be a legit title contender but it’s tough to argue with (1) how we’ve just absolutely dominated teams by suffocating them defensively and (2) it generally being a weak year at the top, and no team is perfect.

We’re so used to the Bama / Georgia super teams at the top of the sport that are essentially perfect that we’re not appreciating how close we are to the top this year.

We’ve also been so beat down as ND fans over the last 30 years that none of us can actually believe we have a title shot. If we handle USC, hopefully we get some actual championship hype around here, not just “a home playoff game would be cool”.

We are very close.

 

[IrishLax]

What’s nuts is that we’ve lost a number of elite players (two top DEs, a 1st round talent at corner, multiple OL including starting LT, etc.) and still have these results. Undersized true frosh starting LT, true frosh starting corner now… some past ND teams would’ve been dead in the water.

 

[Fbolt]

3 weeks for healing and refinement between USC and the initial playoff games.

 

[Cackalacky2.0]

3 weeks for healing and refinement between USC and the initial playoff games.

If I recall the school is gonna have finals end before the home game as well so everyone at the school is fresh and unburdened.

 

[Cackalacky2.0]

What’s nuts is that we’ve lost a number of elite players (two top DEs, a 1st round talent at corner, multiple OL including starting LT, etc.) and still have these results. Undersized true frosh starting LT, true frosh starting corner now… some past ND teams would’ve been dead in the water.

My biggest question mark is out DL against elite OL but I’m just not sure we will face an elite OL. The kicking game is a weakest link at the moment.

In years past we have had significant drop off in talent and physicality when our starters were injured. Now it looks like we are able to reload including having true freshmen step up and be ready with no talk of the process or needing to improve attention to detail.

 

[Irish du Nord]

This would be awesome. ND would be the best or second best team on that entire side of the bracket.

I’d rather play IU than SMU, though SMU losing to Miami in this scenario may show some weaknesses for us to exploit

 

[irish4ever]

if ND were to host Indiana in the first round of the playoff, would the stadium be under threat of a sea of red?

No, IU is more of a b-ball school fan base. Regardless, they don't travel well in either sport actually. They'd fill their allotment, but it wouldn't be near an invasion as it was during the UGA game years ago! Plus, ND fans excitement to hold their very first HOME playoff means a lot.

 

[Irish#1]

What’s nuts is that we’ve lost a number of elite players (two top DEs, a 1st round talent at corner, multiple OL including starting LT, etc.) and still have these results. Undersized true frosh starting LT, true frosh starting corner now… some past ND teams would’ve been dead in the water.

It’s been a while since I’ve heard anyone complaining about Knapp.

Is the allotment 50/50 or does the home team get a larger allotment?

 

[IrishLax]

 

[arrowryan]

It’s been a while since I’ve heard anyone complaining about Knapp.

Is the allotment 50/50 or does the home team get a larger allotment?

Brice said in a recent podcast the away team will get ~5,000 tickets

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

We are very close.

Yep. Don't forget, also, two big time lieutenants in Alfred James Golden Jr. and Michael Fredrick Denbrock.

Those coordinators have been worth every dime. Better the money to there than to a high school student.

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

Said earlier this week that Bama fans hanging out by default on an ND board is weird and kind of sad, but worse is seeing their program like this. We all agree CFB is better when Alabama is in the top echelon, hoping they move past this hire and get back sooner rather than later.

wtf lol they've had over a decade of dominance, I for one wouldn't mind seeing them suffer for 5-10 years at .500. No offense to our resident bama fans, but I'm tired of Bama.

 

[jpachuta33]

Any advice on where to find home playoff tickets?

Easy now… Let’s beat fUSC first.

 

[pumpdog20]

if ND were to host Indiana in the first round of the playoff, would the stadium be under threat of a sea of red?

-team in red
-motivated fan base who would love to come to a game at ND Stadium for a 'once in a lifetime opportunity'
-short drive for said fan base

history says yes

 

[LifelongFan]

IU fans won't travel. There would be some obviously but this is going to be as special for ND as it is for them, and these nouveau football fans won't go to a game that isn't in Bloomington.

 

[rtrn2glory]

Switch us with Penn St and I'm down

 

[IrishFren]

if georgia loses in the SEC championship i think they are our opponent in the first round

 

[NDRock]

-team in red
-motivated fan base who would love to come to a game at ND Stadium for a 'once in a lifetime opportunity'
-short drive for said fan base

history says yes

I think the reason for the Georgia game was the fact we were coming off a 4-8 season and people were down on the program. I'd be shocked if a visiting team "took over" the stadium in a home playoff game during the inaugural playoff season.

 

[Wild Bill]

The most interesting thing in the next poll is how they position Miami, Clemson and SMU relative to the SEC teams still in the mix.

I assumed the ACC would get one team in - the ACC Champ - but the SEC shitting themselves gave the ACC a viable path to getting one or maybe two at-large spots

4 big ten teams
1 big 12 team
1 Acc champ
1 SEC champ
ND
Boise

So, you’ve got three spots left for several potential 3-loss SEC teams and two 2-loss ACC at-large teams. How they rank them this week may give us an idea of what they do.

Miami should jump 2 spots into #6.
SMU should jump Boise, Bama, Ole Miss, maybe Indiana and will end up #9 or #10.
Clemson is the really interesting one. They should be ranked #14, at worst, but there's a good chance they jump both Ole Miss and Bama and are ranked #12 tomorrow. If they jump Boise they're at #11.

The nightmare scenario for the SEC is SMU winning a flukey close game against Miami in the ACCCG and Clemson finishing the year by throttling South Carolina - the team the SEC props up as an great opponent that isn’t in the playoff mix. This would force the committee to decide whether a 2 loss Clemson team, which finishes the year by dominating an SEC team, should stay home in favor of a 3 loss SEC team that ends the year with a brutal loss.

Alternatively, it’ll be interesting to see if they keep the three-loss SEC teams within striking distance to push them forward if chaos ensues, i.e., Tennessee losing to Vandy, Georgia losing to Georgia Tech, and then Georgia losing again in the title game to Texas. Can't wait to hear Finebaum's case for a four loss SEC playoff team.

 

[InKellyWeTrust]

The most interesting thing in the next poll is how they position Miami, Clemson and SMU relative to the SEC teams still in the mix.

I assumed the ACC would get one team in - the ACC Champ - but the SEC shitting themselves gave the ACC a viable path to getting one or maybe two at-large spots

4 big ten teams
1 big 12 team
1 Acc champ
1 SEC champ
ND
Boise

So, you’ve got three spots left for several potential 3-loss SEC teams and two 2-loss ACC at-large teams. How they rank them this week may give us an idea of what they do.

Miami should jump 2 spots into #6.
SMU should jump Boise, Bama, Ole Miss, maybe Indiana and will end up #9 or #10.
Clemson is the really interesting one. They should be ranked #14, at worst, but there's a good chance they jump both Ole Miss and Bama and are ranked #12 tomorrow. If they jump Boise they're at #11.

The nightmare scenario for the SEC is SMU winning a flukey close game against Miami in the ACCCG and Clemson finishing the year by throttling South Carolina - the team the SEC props up as an great opponent that isn’t in the playoff mix. This would force the committee to decide whether a 2 loss Clemson team, which finishes the year by dominating an SEC team, should stay home in favor of a 3 loss SEC team that ends the year with a brutal loss.

Alternatively, it’ll be interesting to see if they keep the three-loss SEC teams within striking distance to push them forward if chaos ensues, i.e., Tennessee losing to Vandy, Georgia losing to Georgia Tech, and then Georgia losing again in the title game to Texas. Can't wait to hear Finebaum's case for a four loss SEC playoff team.

Future CFP format: All bowl eligible SEC teams auto-qualify for the playoffs.

 

[arndtjc]

Contemplating donating to Rockne Fund to try and get prime sideline tickets in the lottery. These are awesome face value prices