Notre Dame Football: Do Irish deserve to make College Football Playoff?

After a lopsided loss Saturday to Clemson, the question facing Notre Dame football is should the Irish make the College Football Playoff?

Coming into the ACC Championship game, the Notre Dame football team didn’t need to win against Clemson, the Fighting Irish just needed to be competitive.

Unfortunately, the Irish didn’t meet that bar and even with the final score at 34-10, the game between Notre Dame and Clemson didn’t even feel that close.

Surprisingly, Notre Dame actually won the turnover battle Saturday, which shows just how dominant the Tigers were in the building a 34-3 lead. In fact, the biggest worry in the second half was a targeting call that could cause a player to miss the playoff game.

The Tigers proved they are a top-two team. They also proved that if Trevor Lawrence had been healthy, Notre Dame football’s most impressive win would never have happened.

Clemson racked up 541 yards, while Notre Dame only finished with 261 on just 44 rushing yards on 30 attempts. The difference between the two teams seemed clear.

Now, the debate begins and here’s Kirk Herbstreit said during the broadcast and said this:

"“I think you’ve got to have a conversation. I think they’re (Notre Dame) fine with a win over Clemson, and don’t forget the win over North Carolina, which could potentially be a top-13 team.”"

The win over North Carolina is a very fair point. The Irish won that game on the road against a team that is likely headed to a New Year’s Six Bowl at 8-3 after a blowout win at Miami.

But the thing about Notre Dame’s resume is its most impressive win (Clemson) doesn’t look as impressive now. Yes, Herbstreit is correct that Clemson will be No. 2 but that win shouldn’t count as a win over the No. 2 team because that was a different Clemson team.

Notre Dame barely won that game at home and needed overtime to do so. With Lawrence, Clemson wins the game by double figures and suddenly, Notre Dame is a two-loss team.

At the very least, Notre Dame shouldn’t really get credit for beating the No. 2 team. Yet, you have to ask is Texas A&M’s resume any better?

Jimbo Fisher certainly thinks so.

Fisher makes a very good point. Seven straight wins in the SEC is impressive and that win includes a victory over seventh-ranked Florida, plus Auburn, LSU and Mississippi State.

Both teams have a good argument and you can also make essentially the same argument against both teams too. The Aggies lost to Bama by a few touchdowns in a game that wasn’t all that competitive. Should they really get another chance?

Should Notre Dame get a chance against Alabama if it couldn’t even handle Clemson?

One team that actually could play its way into the playoff is Florida. If the Gators upset the Crimson Tide, it would be awfully hard to leave out Florida — the SEC champion.

But Bama would have a strong argument too and I bet they would get in too and in a complete twist, Texas A&M would have a good case too. The Aggies would have one loss and a win over Florida, but Bama beat the Aggies and in this scenario, Florida would have beaten Bama too.

It’s enough to make your head spin.

At the end of the day, the argument basically comes down to Notre Dame, A&M (barring a surprise) and Cincinnati, which by the way is one of three other undefeated teams (Coastal Carolina, San Jose State), assuming the Bearcats beat Tulsa to win the American.

The committee might put the Irish in on Sunday, but after watching Notre Dame football on Saturday, it’s hard to argue they deserve it.