2025 College Football Playoffs

[irishff1014]

Matt Freeman had himself a night at ISD.

Even going back and forth with people that Indiana is the best in the state. Never seen him
Post like this but he isnt wrong.

 

[RudyVerse]

Matt Freeman had himself a night at ISD.

Even going back and forth with people that Indiana is the best in the state. Never seen him
Post like this but he isnt wrong.

And detailing out how ND has chosen to be behind on a many things. The locker rooms, the new facility, technology, NIL, admissions, support staff.

He really is hammering ND and making fair points. We wait until everyone else has it, we never lead.

 

[ozzman]

I couldn't really decide who to root for but Miami is truly detestable on many levels and I'm very happy to see them lose. Just so many people associated with that program suck.

What a bitch

The good guys won. Same punks.

lol... an idiot basketball team won

Mendoza looks like an autistic bully who beats up other autistic kids... that goofy smirk

fuck IU

I was rooting for Miami, an actual football school

I couldn't really decide who to root for but Miami is truly detestable on many levels and I'm very happy to see them lose. Just so many people associated with that program suck.

I thought the same thing initially that it wasn't a good look for Fletcher, but I think the IU guy definitely said something to him. If I had to guess, it was something about his dad since they talked about it so much. There's another video showing Fletcher appearing humble and congratulatory with Mendoza.

 

[Irish#1]

What a bitch

Same old U.

I was pulling for IU as I didn't want Miami to have another title. IU winning better for CFP than Miami winning it and it doesn't effect ND one bit. I'm surrounded by IU and I'll hear about it, but after a couple of days the crowing will be over.

Buckle up gents, We're going to go undefeated throughout 26-27 and lift the trophy.

 

[rtrn2glory]

The back shoulder fade to the field is one of the hardest throws to make in football and Mendoza looks like he can do it blindfolded. That alone will make him the #1 pick. Too bad he probably has better receivers to throw to now than he will in Vegas

 

[FWIrish4]

I have no emotional investment in ND basketball.

And IU fans have no emotional investment in their football team. Just got handed a title without even caring for decades, which is why living in Indiana will be insufferable until August hits!

 

[irishff1014]

Same old U.

I was pulling for IU as I didn't want Miami to have another title. IU winning better for CFP than Miami winning it and it doesn't effect ND one bit. I'm surrounded by IU and I'll hear about it, but after a couple of days the crowing will be over.

Buckle up gents, We're going to go undefeated throughout 26-27 and lift the trophy.

Good luck with that. Freeman hasn’t had an undefeated season yet. And every year he loses a game he shouldn’t.

Again I think Freeman is the right guy, I just don’t think he is as great as a head coach that we (ND) fans think he is.

 

[MacIrish75]

And IU fans have no emotional investment in their football team. Just got handed a title without even caring for decades, which is why living in Indiana will be insufferable until August hits!

You know damn well that by the time their MBB team is relegated to the NIT they won’t even care about this.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

I'm not sure there needs to be a new thread for 2025 in the rearview, but I do have some thoughts:

There is a small part of me that feels like ND is cursed. The sheer amount of things that ND needed to go their way this year, but didn't, is astounding. In this "game of inches," ND fell short in ways that seemed to have cosmic interference. Feel free to add to this list. This is just off the top of my head.

• Miami needed an insane one-handed TD grab by Daniels, a flukey INT, and a last minute FG to beat ND. All season long, Miami was known for shooting themselves in the foot, yet in this game, they played almost flawless. (For comparison, Indiana needed a Miami missed FG, a blocked Punt for a TD, and a Beck INT to win that game last night. Miami provided them with all.)
• A&M needed a botched XP from ND, a gigantic missed holding call, and one of ND's worst defensive efforts on the entire season to win this game by one point.
• Fast forward and towards the middle-to-end of the season there is not one single upset that benefits ND. Not one.
• The ACC royally screws up their own conference tie-breaker and has Duke vs UVA in the CCG instead of UVA vs Miami.
• And then Duke proceeds to win that F'ing game, rendering the Bama/UGA and BYU/TexTech games meaningless because...
• The CFP committee screws ND in unprecedented fashion by keeping a bad Alabama team in and dropping ND to keep from leaving the ACC out. Reasons were completely fabricated.

It's not that one or two of these things happened in a vacuum. That'd just be chalked up to what we call "college football." It's the fact that ALL of these things absolutely NEEDED TO HAPPEN in order to keep ND out of the playoffs.....and somehow, some way, that's exactly what happened.

 

[MacIrish75]

I'm not sure there needs to be a new thread for 2025 in the rearview, but I do have some thoughts:

There is a small part of me that feels like ND is cursed. The sheer amount of things that ND needed to go their way this year, but didn't, is astounding. In this "game of inches," ND fell short in aways that seemed to have cosmic interference. Feel free to add to this list. This is just off the top of my head.

• Miami needed an insane one-handed TD grab by Daniels, a flukey INT, and a last minute FG to beat ND. All season long, Miami was known for shooting themselves in the foot, yet in this game, they played almost flawless.
• A&M needed a botched XP from ND, a gigantic missed holding call, and one of ND's worst defensive efforts on the entire season to win this game by one point.
• Fast forward and towards the middle-to-end of the season there is not one single upset that benefits ND. Not one.
• The ACC royally screws up their own conference tie-breaker and has Duke vs UVA in the CCG instead of UVA vs Miami.
• And then Duke proceeds to win that F'ing game, rendering the Bama/UGA and BYU/TexTech games meaningless because...
• The CFP committee screws ND in unprecedented fashion by keeping a bad Alabama team in and dropping ND to keep from leaving the ACC out. Reasons were completely fabricated.

It's not that one or two of these things happened in a vacuum. That'd just be chalked up to what we call "college football." It's the fact that ALL of these things absolutely NEEDED TO HAPPEN in order to keep ND out of the playoffs.....and somehow, some way, that's exactly what happened.

Nailed it.

Hard to even be too upset when you step back and view it through this lens…but then that only reiterates the need to handle our own business and not be dependent upon “help.”

 

[BleedBlueGold]

Nailed it.

Hard to even be too upset when you step back and view it through this lens…but then that only reiterates the need to handle our own business and not be dependent upon “help.”

"Leave no doubt." Coach Freeman is absolutely right. But...

That is so much easier said than done.

For as great as this IU team was, they barely beat Iowa, Penn State, OSU, and Miami. The stars had to align in ways that seemed beyond what the team was controlling in order to get those outcomes. I genuinely cannot wrap my head around it.

 

[spoonidentity]

I'm not sure there needs to be a new thread for 2025 in the rearview, but I do have some thoughts:

There is a small part of me that feels like ND is cursed. The sheer amount of things that ND needed to go their way this year, but didn't, is astounding. In this "game of inches," ND fell short in aways that seemed to have cosmic interference. Feel free to add to this list. This is just off the top of my head.

• Miami needed an insane one-handed TD grab by Daniels, a flukey INT, and a last minute FG to beat ND. All season long, Miami was known for shooting themselves in the foot, yet in this game, they played almost flawless. (For comparison, Indiana needed a Miami missed FG, a blocked Punt for a TD, and a Beck INT to win that game last night. Miami provided them with all.)
• A&M needed a botched XP from ND, a gigantic missed holding call, and one of ND's worst defensive efforts on the entire season to win this game by one point.
• Fast forward and towards the middle-to-end of the season there is not one single upset that benefits ND. Not one.
• The ACC royally screws up their own conference tie-breaker and has Duke vs UVA in the CCG instead of UVA vs Miami.
• And then Duke proceeds to win that F'ing game, rendering the Bama/UGA and BYU/TexTech games meaningless because...
• The CFP committee screws ND in unprecedented fashion by keeping a bad Alabama team in and dropping ND to keep from leaving the ACC out. Reasons were completely fabricated.

It's not that one or two of these things happened in a vacuum. That'd just be chalked up to what we call "college football." It's the fact that ALL of these things absolutely NEEDED TO HAPPEN in order to keep ND out of the playoffs.....and somehow, some way, that's exactly what happened.

Excellent post, brother.

The only way to explain it is that we're proud Notre Dame fans of the Judeo-Christian heritage in the Abrahamic religions tradition - it's in our Catholic nature to suffer, but the rewards will be there - eventually!

 

[Dale]

Miami had 30 more yards so basically even, more importantly almost 2 more yards per play. IU ran for 2.9 yards per rush. But….


IU 4/4 red zone scoring. 2/2 4th down. Blocked punt TD.
Miami 22 more penalty yards. 0/1 FG. 1 INT.

You could not watch the game and perfectly match the talent/coaching to the team.

14% post game win expectancy for IU

At least we got proof they aren’t cheating

 

[IRISHDODGER]

I'm not sure there needs to be a new thread for 2025 in the rearview, but I do have some thoughts:

There is a small part of me that feels like ND is cursed. The sheer amount of things that ND needed to go their way this year, but didn't, is astounding. In this "game of inches," ND fell short in ways that seemed to have cosmic interference. Feel free to add to this list. This is just off the top of my head.

• Miami needed an insane one-handed TD grab by Daniels, a flukey INT, and a last minute FG to beat ND. All season long, Miami was known for shooting themselves in the foot, yet in this game, they played almost flawless. (For comparison, Indiana needed a Miami missed FG, a blocked Punt for a TD, and a Beck INT to win that game last night. Miami provided them with all.)
• A&M needed a botched XP from ND, a gigantic missed holding call, and one of ND's worst defensive efforts on the entire season to win this game by one point.
• Fast forward and towards the middle-to-end of the season there is not one single upset that benefits ND. Not one.
• The ACC royally screws up their own conference tie-breaker and has Duke vs UVA in the CCG instead of UVA vs Miami.
• And then Duke proceeds to win that F'ing game, rendering the Bama/UGA and BYU/TexTech games meaningless because...
• The CFP committee screws ND in unprecedented fashion by keeping a bad Alabama team in and dropping ND to keep from leaving the ACC out. Reasons were completely fabricated.

It's not that one or two of these things happened in a vacuum. That'd just be chalked up to what we call "college football." It's the fact that ALL of these things absolutely NEEDED TO HAPPEN in order to keep ND out of the playoffs.....and somehow, some way, that's exactly what happened.

Well stated. And you’re correct we do NOT need a new thread for 2025 in the rearview. Flush that bitch down the toilet.

 

[Me2SouthBend]

For those of us who lived through the 80's and the Convict years, I couldn't agree more.

And to have Irvin as an honorary captain and Murderin Ray Lewis talking to Beck on the sideline during the game is ridiculous. Fuck the Canes and Fuck Michigan.

 

[Irish#1]

Good luck with that. Freeman hasn’t had an undefeated season yet. And every year he loses a game he shouldn’t.

Again I think Freeman is the right guy, I just don’t think he is as great as a head coach that we (ND) fans think he is.

Does someone piss in your Cheerios every morning?

 

[jerseyborn1971]

Have any former players been more of an embarrassment than Irvin and Sapp? They're worse than Manziel.

 

[Irish#1]

And IU fans have no emotional investment in their football team. Just got handed a title without even caring for decades, which is why living in Indiana will be insufferable until August hits!

One of the guys on my staff is an IU fan. He's been pretty low key thru the season. He comes in this morning wearing an IU sweatshirt, grins and clears his throat. I looked at him and said "That's great. IU won a NC. Just remember, Purdue put a man on the moon." I turned and walked away. lol

 

[Me2SouthBend]

Does someone piss in your Cheerios every morning?

I was about to type the same thing but you beat me to it. May just have his period but has no cranberry juice.

 

[Irish#1]

"Leave no doubt." Coach Freeman is absolutely right. But...

That is so much easier said than done.

For as great as this IU team was, they barely beat Iowa, Penn State, OSU, and Miami. The stars had to align in ways that seemed beyond what the team was controlling in order to get those outcomes. I genuinely cannot wrap my head around it.

Let's be honest. It's rare for a team to dominate throughout. There's always going to be some close games. They key is they won those. The 2012 Bama team had three close wins and lost one game, yet is considered one of the best in recent times.

 

[FWIrish4]

I'm not sure there needs to be a new thread for 2025 in the rearview, but I do have some thoughts:

There is a small part of me that feels like ND is cursed. The sheer amount of things that ND needed to go their way this year, but didn't, is astounding. In this "game of inches," ND fell short in ways that seemed to have cosmic interference. Feel free to add to this list. This is just off the top of my head.

• Miami needed an insane one-handed TD grab by Daniels, a flukey INT, and a last minute FG to beat ND. All season long, Miami was known for shooting themselves in the foot, yet in this game, they played almost flawless. (For comparison, Indiana needed a Miami missed FG, a blocked Punt for a TD, and a Beck INT to win that game last night. Miami provided them with all.)
• A&M needed a botched XP from ND, a gigantic missed holding call, and one of ND's worst defensive efforts on the entire season to win this game by one point.
• Fast forward and towards the middle-to-end of the season there is not one single upset that benefits ND. Not one.
• The ACC royally screws up their own conference tie-breaker and has Duke vs UVA in the CCG instead of UVA vs Miami.
• And then Duke proceeds to win that F'ing game, rendering the Bama/UGA and BYU/TexTech games meaningless because...
• The CFP committee screws ND in unprecedented fashion by keeping a bad Alabama team in and dropping ND to keep from leaving the ACC out. Reasons were completely fabricated.

It's not that one or two of these things happened in a vacuum. That'd just be chalked up to what we call "college football." It's the fact that ALL of these things absolutely NEEDED TO HAPPEN in order to keep ND out of the playoffs.....and somehow, some way, that's exactly what happened.

Add to this HOW Duke got to the ACC championship with their improbable win at Clemson. It was pure insanity.

94 yard drive and on 4th and 10 they throw up a prayer that’s not even close and Clemson gets flagged for a bogus PI. Duke scores next play and then goes for two and wins.

 

[pumpdog20]

SEC heads gonna blow when the state of Indiana goes back to back nattys... Leave No Doubt

 

[BleedBlueGold]

Let's be honest. It's rare for a team to dominate throughout. There's always going to be some close games. They key is they won those. The 2012 Bama team had three close wins and lost one game, yet is considered one of the best in recent times.

Absolutely. But that's kind of my point. The "leave no doubt" mantra is great but it's almost an impossible bar. At some point throughout a season, you just need the chips to fall your way. You need to be blessed by the football gods during the season because there will be times when winning a close game is just luck. Or a key upset elsewhere in CFB is luck. Get lucky with injuries. Etc. Control what you can control, of course. But this game has proven to go beyond that. You need a little bit extra. IU got it in spades this year. ND got hosed by it this year.

 

[NDPhilly]

ND ended the season #3 in pretty much every advanced metric system:

DokterEntropy: 3
Sargarin: 3
TeamRankings.com: 3
ESPN FPI: 3
Massey Power: 3

Would have been ~5pt dog to IU on a neutral field. painful.

 

[irish4ever]

And IU fans have no emotional investment in their football team. Just got handed a title without even caring for decades, which is why living in Indiana will be insufferable until August hits!

I hear ya'. Same shit here where I live. Their 'fair weather' fans come out in droves now. All of a sudden, their a major football school and acting like they have been die hard FB fans through the ages. Makes me want to puke. Luckly, the assholes will be back in hiding (probably starting tonight @ meatchicken) as the basketball season proceeds because their paid player base team! Again, why waste time and effort to recruit and develop players, just buy a team. NIL has really fucked up college sports.

 

[irish4ever]

IMO, 3 things prevented the Irish from playing for a natty this year ...
1) The ESPN-led CFP committee's fucked-up snub of course (gotta protect the SEC)
2) Al Golden being hired by the Bengals (D definitely wouldn't have started the season that slow if it wasn't for a new DC to get acclimated to)
3) The fumbled snap/missed extra-point demise near the game against A&M (also #2 comes into play here as A&M wouldn't have scored 40+ on a Golden led D).

 

[ND88]

I love when other teams do well and these self-proclaimed Notre Dame fans come out glazing with the hyperbole. Makes perfect sense. I get it, you're such a fan of the sport. Or your beloved granny loved Notre Dame back in the early 1900s, so ND has a soft spot in your heart as your second team. Or your dad went to Ohio State, so you love them too. Or MF is a good coach but not as great as a wet nostril. Yeah, sure. With fans like these... lol.

ND or nothing. Get out. 😂 ☘️

 

[DCK_1981]

To add to the cursed talk, did IU have any player of importance that got injured and was out? Last year we were fielding a mash unit at most positions and nearly every player I could remember playing for IU last night was suited up and playing.

I think they did figure out the key though. When I heard their average age of player was 24 I just laughed and said “what do we have a team full of doctors here?”

 

[IrishLax]

Not really when you look at advanced stats. One of the power ratings / Vegas people said they would be about a TD underdog to the LSU super team.

FWIW this is common power rating by most computers / handicappers:

 

[NDWarrior]

It's 2026 baby... Let's go! "Leave. No. Doubt!" 🍀🍀🍀

Notre Dame is the favorite to bring home the Heisman and National Title: Despite the snub in 2025, Notre Dame is the favorite to have a massive year in 2026… like Indiana just had.