The season is just around the corner and the USA Today’s Paul Myerberg wondered if the ACC could potentially put two teams into the College Football Playoffs.
The two teams Myerberg is referencing are Clemson and your Fighting Irish. He proposes that if the after the two teams meet in their regular season matchup in November they “could meet again for the conference championship in December holding just one combined loss. In that scenario, the case will be made that even the loser deserves a spot among the final top four.”
It’s hard to argue with his logic, but if either of the teams finish undefeated while the other team has two losses, it’s hard to imagine having a two loss team make the CFP. If Notre Dame and Clemson split their regular season and potential ACC Championship games, then yes, both teams would have a very solid argument that they deserve to be in the four team tournament.
Myerberg then projects the ACC’s individual team records, as the Irish finish second behind Clemson, with a 9-2 record. Clemson, in his projections, goes undefeated and would get the number one overall seed in the CFP. The Irish be left at the altar as the 5th team, barely missing their second playoff berth in the last 3 years.
Hopefully Myerberg is incorrect in his assessment of the season playing out in the ACC. The ideal situation would see the Irish beat Clemson twice and leave no doubt for the CFP committee to include them in the final four. Hell, a split of the games would work, as that should be enough this year for both teams to make it. Let’s hope it’s one of those two and not how Myerberg see’s the season playing out.