Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick explains Irish’s role in proposed playoff

One of the first things people noticed about the proposed expanded College Football Playoff is that it rewards the top conference champions. Specifically, it gives first-round byes to the top four conference champions in the 12-team field.

With Notre Dame reclaiming its independence after a one-year absence, that would mean it can fare no better than the top seed without a bye. Many Irish fans cried foul, and longtime Irish haters were gleeful over the possibility of the program having the join a conference permanently.

Hold up, though. Not only does Notre Dame appear to be fine with this, but athletic director Jack Swarbrick was on the four-person committee that came up with the proposed playoff expansion. Here are some of Swarbrick’s thoughts as tweeted by Pete Sampson, the Notre Dame beat reporter for The Athletic:

So yeah, it may not look great for the Irish on paper, but it still works out for them in practice. If they had a team that was good enough, they still would be able to rest during conference championship week, and they always would be able to host a first-round game in South Bend. That being the case, the “Notre Dame must join a conference” crowd will have to keep shouting that argument for now. The Irish are staying independent, and that’s all they want.