Prominent ESPN host leaves Irish out of college football playoff

Is he off his rocker for picking those teams over the Irish?

Not every pundit and analyst has Notre Dame as a shoo-in for the [autotag]College Football Playoff[/autotag].

ESPN’s Matt Barrie unveiled his predicted 12 playoff teams, and the Irish are notably absent.

His list seems pretty uncontroversial until the final three: Missouri, Utah and Memphis. While Missouri is a popular pick for the back end of the field, Memphis over Notre Dame raises some eyebrows, even if Memphis could get in as a conference champion while Notre Dame’s independence limits it.

It’s not that Memphis will not necessarily be good enough to qualify — I expect the Tigers to be in the hunt. It’s that I think the Irish should be improved over last season, and they have a slightly easier than usual schedule. The combination should result in an easier path to the playoff. Especially now that head coach Marcus Freeman is entering Year 3 and has had a chance to work out some of his issues.

That’s not to say a Notre Dame playoff appearance is a given. It never is for any team: Injuries and bad luck happen. The Irish have also had seasonlong letdowns more than a few times during my fandom.

Still, if the Irish are healthy and play up to expectations, they should be in the playoff, even if they do have a loss or two at regular season’s end. At the very least, it seems unlikely they will not be in while Ole Miss, Missouri, Utah, and Memphis are ALL in the playoff.

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