Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love Gives Clear Response on CFP ...

By Matthew Couden

Contributing Writer

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The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are in an interesting controversy: they're ranked among the College Football Playoff teams, but many feel another team might be more deserving of their spot amongst the 12 teams in the bracket.

After starting their season 0-2, the Irish went on an impressive 10-game winning streak, seemingly making a strong case for their entry. That included a 70-7 rout against Syracuse, before they defeated Stanford, 49-20, in the final game of their season.

However, they'll leave the selection decision to the CFP committee, as Notre Dame has no conference or championship to contend for. At the same time, other schools in the playoff discussion will participate in games this coming weekend.

A controversy arose over the Miami Hurricanes not being listed in the projected CFP bracket, even though they are also 10-2 and defeated Notre Dame this past season. The Texas Longhorns also believe they have a case based on who they have beaten this season.

During a recent interview, Notre Dame's star running back, Heisman contender Jeremiyah Love, made his thoughts clear on why he believes the Fighting Irish are a playoff team.

Read more: Clemson’s Dabo Swinney Reacts to Lane Kiffin Taking LSU Job

Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love against Stanford

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“I really just say, we’re a playoff team. I mean, yeah, we lost two games in the beginning of the season, Week 1 and Week 2, but you look at all the other teams that you’re comparing us to, and look at their schedules and who they’ve lost to,” Love said on “See Ball Get Ball with David Pollack.”

Along with that, Love boasted of Notre Dame having a lot of great playmakers and being a "must-see team," adding that he felt, "a lot of times people don't like Notre Dame."

"That's just how I feel. We got the guys, we got the coaches, and we got the experience as well," he said in making his case for the CFP.

On Tuesday, ESPN revealed the Week 15 bracket, which included Notre Dame as the No. 10 team out of 12. Based on their projected matchups, the Fighting Irish would go against Texas A&M in the first round.

In addition to Miami seemingly out of the CFP picture, Texas has made a case for its own entry after defeating three top-10 teams this season.

On a recent episode of “The Herd with Colin Cowherd,” Colin discussed the playoff debate with Fox Sports College Football's Joel Klatt. Colin mentioned that the committee is basically saying, “Notre Dame didn’t really have a quality win, but they had no bad losses.”

Klatt agreed that both Miami and Texas have cases for being CFP teams. He contended that the main issue is the format for ranking potential CFP teams, calling it “subjective” given the various criteria involved. That said, he doesn't believe Notre Dame is "just in" the bracket.

He noted that if BYU defeats Texas Tech, they'll get an automatic spot, and that Texas Tech would also stay ahead of Notre Dame in the CFP rankings. If that occurs, Notre Dame would fall out of the CFP bracket, which would be disappointing for Love and the Fighting Irish.

Read more: Ole Miss Coach Sends Message to Fans After CFP Rankings Reveal

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