But don’t expect anyone to feel for Notre Dame on those fronts – or any fronts, really. Independence allows the Irish to maintain an extremely lucrative television contract with NBC. With this CFP in particular, it has raised an already high ceiling for financial benefits. Each win means just a tad more.

Some fans feel Alabama should have made the College Football Playoff despite holding a worse record than Indiana.

Notre Dame players and coaches linked arms in the northeast corner of the field late Friday, waiting to sing the alma mater for the final time at home in 2024. After a slight delay, coach Marcus Freeman bounded into the group,