Top Questions Surrounding Notre Dame Ahead of Initial CFP Rankings Release

How will the committee handle and view Notre Dame?

Oct 26, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish wide receiver Jordan Faison (6) gains yards after catch during the first half against the Navy Midshipmen at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

After years of buildup, the expanded CFP is finally upon us

The College Football Playoff committee is set to reveal its first 12-team bracket under the expanded playoff format on Tuesday night. After all of the buildup, America is finally about to see what college football feels like when it turns into NFL light.

Intrigue is high from coast to coast as fans and media from every corner of the country wonder how this committee will fairly stack up the 12 teams. Personally, I can't wait to find out how this group views each team's body of work compared to everyone else. This is no easy task.

I want to learn what they value and what they don't value, what they penalize, and how much. I want to see how this committee weighs better records against better schedules and conferences. And most of all, I want to see if this group can maintain consistency philosophically with its methodology when judging a 12-team field when it often could not do so when just looking at four teams.

Notre Dame is the perpetual outlier

Notre Dame is the outlier in this project. It chooses to be independent and therefore must be analyzed differently than any other team being considered for the field. How fairly will Notre Dame be treated by a committee full of mostly lifelong conference loyalists?

Regarding Notre Dame's resume, it's quite complicated. How the committee navigates Notre Dame's 1 awful loss compared to some interesting, ranked wins, including those over Texas A&M, Louisville, and most recently Navy in the first ranking will set the tone for the Irish's experience as the one-off of the group who doesn't quite fit in but that belongs.

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