CFP chair Mack Rhoades explains why Notre Dame earned top 10 nod despite 2 losses
Published:
College Football Playoff chair Mack Rhoades had a lot of questions to answer in the aftermath of Tuesday night’s release of the first CFP rankings.
One of those big questions was what exactly Notre Dame was doing in the top 10, since the Fighting Irish already have 2 losses after starting the season at 0-2. Sure, Marcus Freeman’s team has surged lately, ripping off 6 straight wins, but those 2 losses are still on Notre Dame’s résumé as we hit the stretch run in November.
So, Notre Dame’s place in the initial CFP rankings was a hot topic and a subject that Rhoades was asked about. Ari Wasserman of On3 directly asked Rhoades to give an explanation about the 2-loss Fighting Irish, and Rhoades was ready.
“I think it starts with two losses, total of 4 points against two very, very good teams,” said Rhoades, referencing Notre Dame’s season-opening losses to Miami and Texas A&M. “One of them ranked third in the country and one ranked 18th. We talked about, I think early on defensively, maybe they weren’t as good as what we thought they would be but certainly most (recently), it seems like they’ve been much, much better defensively.”
Rhoades also referenced Notre Dame’s 6-game winning streak and its stellar backfield tandem as reasons for its No. 10 ranking.
“When we look at the tape, we think Notre Dame’s a really solid football team, both sides of the ball,” Rhoades said.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
