The Notre Dame Fighting Irish were snubbed from the 2025/2026 College Football Playoff field this past Sunday. Sports Illustrated's Pat Forde believes the time to complain about their ranking is over and that introspection is badly needed.
As Forde notes, losing to the Miami Hurricanes and TAMU Aggies was the Fighting Irish's fault, and their fault only. That is why Notre Dame was the first team out in the CFP selection committee's final rankings.
Forde's message to the Fighting Irish? Be more like the Vanderbilt Commodores and their fearless head coach, Clark Lea, who was willing to book an extra game in Hawaii to get his Dores into the CFP field.
"The Fighting Irish have blamed the playoff system," Forde wrote. "They have blamed the weekly ESPN TV show. They have blamed the Atlantic Coast Conference. They have bailed on a bowl game because what football team could possibly go on playing football after being so grievously wronged?
"The one thing I haven’t heard anyone at the school do yet? Blame themselves.
"Starting 0–2 is on Notre Dame. Scheduling two really difficult games at the beginning of the season is on Notre Dame. Stumbling early in three out of four seasons under Marcus Freeman, with September losses to Northern Illinois last year and Marshall in 2022, is on Notre Dame. Mismanaging the team’s strengths and weaknesses in the first few weeks is on Notre Dame.
"I certainly haven’t heard anyone in South Bend come close to the accountability articulated by former Irish defensive coordinator and current Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea, whose team was also denied entrance to the playoff."
The New York Post feels Notre Dame was snubbed for Alabama and Miami
The New York Post's Zach Braziller feels Notre Dame had a superior resume to the Canes and the Alabama Crimson Tide, the latter of which was the real undeserving squad to sneak into this year's CFP field.
"One of the hottest teams in the country over the last two-plus months will not be in the College Football Playoff," Braziller prefaced before saying, "Notre Dame, despite a 10-game winning streak, was left on the outside looking in. Alabama received the ninth seed and Miami was given No. 10. The Crimson Tide have been incredibly shaky for the last five weeks, barely beating SEC also-rans LSU, Auburn and South Carolina, losing at home to punchless Oklahoma and getting crushed on Saturday in the SEC championship game. Miami, which didn’t even reach the ACC title game, got in on the strength of its Week 1 win over the Irish."
In whichever way the Fighting Irish feel they were done wrong, it's undeniable that they're acting like they feel aggrieved. Notre Dame AD Peter Bevacqua and Co. could consider drastic measures on the ACC for revenge.
College Football is different because the Fighting Irish were the victim. If only justice was served and the Tide were the first team out.