Gary Pinkel thinks Notre Dame should 'join a league' to make the playoff

Call Gary Pinkel a College Football Playoff purist.

The Missouri football coach who was making the ESPN rounds Monday morning was asked about the criteria to play in the College Football Playoff and took two main stances: Teams should play a conference title game and Independents should not be allowed.

Pinkel certainly isn’t alone in his thinking. Even Jeff Long, the head of the College Football Playoff committee said the Big 12 — the only Power Five conference without a league title game — would have been better served with a conference championship.

However, there have been few gripes about Notre Dame, perhaps because it hasn’t been in a position yet to put itself in the playoff. That said, the Irish do have a scheduling agreement with the ACC that requires them to play five ACC opponents on a rotating basis. The Irish also play Texas, USC and Stanford this year, and Stanford and USC are typically mainstays on the Notre Dame schedule.

So, it’s not like Notre Dame is scheduling the likes of North Dakota State or Toledo or Indiana. I mean, those types of games would really call into question the quality of the schedule, especially if one of those games resulted in a loss.

Just sayin’.

If Notre Dame can get through it’s gauntlet of a schedule unscathed or with the right loss, it should be in the playoff conversation regardless of its lack of conference affiliation.

For more Notre Dame news, visit BlueAndGold.com.

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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @YahooDrSaturday

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