The CFP Committee, like clockwork, became the villain after announcing the playoff bracket for the season. One team that has caused this reaction is Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish even opted out of the bowl game, and now the ACC commissioner wants to mend the relationship. Amid the chaos, Paul Finebaum sounded a harsh verdict on the committee’s decision-making surrounding the picks.

Finebaum’s comments come in the wake of Notre Dame being denied a spot in the playoffs, despite being a 10-2 team. Much to the dismay of the Irish, the team was dropped in favor of Miami. CFP committee chair Hunter Yurachek said that BYU’s loss in the Big 12 title game put Notre Dame and Miami next to each other in the rankings. Then Miami’s head-to-head win over Notre Dame in Week 1 proved to be the deciding factor.

“Notre Dame’s resume is good. It’s not great. Is this committee good? No. It was a clown show. We all know that. They changed the rules as they went along,” he said in a December 10 episode of the Dan Patrick Show.

The CFP Committee has never escaped backlash for its playoff inclusions. It kept a deserving Baylor and TCU out of the bracket to include Ohio State in 2014. In 2017, a one-loss Alabama made the cut, despite being a no-show in the SEC Championship game. Ironically, this seems to have repeated this season as well, with the Tide getting a playoff berth despite losing the SEC Championship to Georgia. In 2023, an unbeaten FSU was kept out because of QB Jordan Travis’ season-ending injury. There are more instances of the CFP Committee making blunders. But Notre Dame’s case is a peculiar one.

On a closer look, the way the team compares to the other 10-2 teams makes it very clear why Notre Dame couldn’t make it. Firstly, the rivalry loss to Miami was a big problem for the Irish’s playoff hopes. And then Texas A&M planted a flag in South Bend. Two straight losses to ranked teams are a big reason why Notre Dame is out of the playoffs. Plus, Notre Dame was already given the risky No. 10 position to begin with, after week 14. There wasn’t a lot Notre Dame could do to help itself.

Ultimately, the cards fell into place for Miami. BYU lost to Texas Tech in the Big 12 Championship game, while Duke upset Virginia in the ACC game. That was everything Miami needed to get in, bringing some much-needed relief to the Hurricanes. This has, in turn, damaged the ACC and Notre Dame’s rapport.

Jim Phillips extended support to Notre Dame after it called out the ACC

Prior to the snub, the ACC had been advocating for Miami to earn a spot in the playoffs. That would mean that Notre Dame, the only player who could be moved easily, had to be out of the equation. But it would also jeopardize the relationship it has with the school. The ACC has a scheduling partnership with Notre Dame, and the Irish are a member school in 24 sports. Notre Dame AD Pete Bevacqua called out the conference for throwing the team under the bus to campaign for Miami’s playoff bid.

“All things can be healed, I’m not going to be overly dramatic here,” Bevacqua said at a December 10 presser. “But it did strain the relationship. It strained the relationship.”

Now, Jim Phillips has to do some serious cleanup. Though the ACC is now very happy with Miami’s presence in the playoffs, the Commissioner is now forced to bat for Notre Dame to repair the relationship. In a recent event, the commissioner called for the playoffs to be expanded yet again, citing that a team of Notre Dame’s caliber was left out.

“[If] you’re leaving teams out of the Playoff that could win a national championship, then you don’t have the right number,” he said at a recent event. “We experienced it two seasons ago with Florida State, the only undefeated team to not make the Playoff at 13-0. And that’s when it was at four.”

Notre Dame has been to the National Championship game twice since its last win in 1988. But the Irish were met with despair both times. This season, given the way SEC and Big 10 teams have dominated the narrative, it was going to be difficult for the Fighting Irish to cut through the clutter. Sadly, a wild but understandable turn of events will keep them out of the playoffs this season. Though Phillips tried to soothe the blow from Miami’s inclusion into the bracket, Notre Dame is way too dejected to accept his comments as an apology at the moment.