Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman was magnanimous toward the College Football Playoff\u2019s selection committee Wednesday, telling NBC News he will \u201cagree to disagree\u201d after the Fighting Irish dropped to 10th in the latest CFP rankings.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re never always going to agree, especially when your program is the one that\u2019s getting dropped after winning by 20-something points,\u201d Freeman said. Notre Dame was ranked ninth in the 12-team CFP field in each of the last three weeks before switching spots with Alabama on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The Fighting Irish defeated Stanford 49-20 in their final game of the season, while the Crimson Tide rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat Auburn 27-20. Depending on the outcome of this week\u2019s conference championship games, Notre Dame is now at a higher risk of dropping out of the playoff entirely. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere are as many Notre Dame fans that are upset, including myself, as there\u2019s going to be Alabama fans that are happy,\u201d Freeman said. \u201cI don\u2019t always understand it, personally. I\u2019m sure [the committee] gave a legitimate reason, but that doesn\u2019t mean we agree.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the ESPN show revealing the rankings Tuesday, playoff selection committee chair Hunter Yurachek said the debate between Notre Dame and Alabama was one of the group\u2019s fiercest.<\/p>\n
Yurachek said the Crimson Tide\u2019s win over the Tigers, which included a late fourth-down conversion for a touchdown, was \u201cenough of a win, of a metric\u201d to bump up Alabama. <\/p>\n
Notre Dame has been at the center of a hot debate over which teams belong in this year\u2019s playoff, the second season in which the sport has used a 12-team format. While the Fighting Irish slid Tuesday, they remain ahead of Miami, which beat Notre Dame in Week 1. That decision has led to criticism and questions about the value of head-to-head wins vs. a team\u2019s overall r\u00e9sum\u00e9.<\/p>\n
When asked if he thinks the current playoff system is working, Freeman said: \u201cEvery year, you\u2019re going to have a group of three, four teams that are right on the cusp of being in the playoffs or not in the playoffs that are going to be upset. And it\u2019s going to be no different than if they expand the playoffs to 16 \u2014 there\u2019s still going to be somebody that\u2019s not happy with not making it into the playoffs. So it\u2019s life, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cTo me, I\u2019m always the supporter of more is better, and the more teams you you give an opportunity to play in the playoffs, the better. That\u2019s just how I feel personally. Everybody can have their own opinion, but I always favor more.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is currently no agreement on the size of next season\u2019s playoff field, with a deadline for the decision<\/a> coming on Jan. 23, 2026, six days after the national championship game. Multiple conference commissioners have expressed a desire for an expanded playoff, though there are disagreements on the size of the field and how many schools should receive automatic bids. <\/p>\n Though the Fighting Irish are on the playoff bubble after losing two early-season games to ranked opponents, Freeman said not to expect the school to change its future scheduling. <\/p>\n