Gary Barta explains how Brian Kelly's exit could impact Notre Dame's final CFP rank

Notre Dame won’t take the field this weekend to play for a conference championship, but the discourse around the Fighting Irish has not slowed down this week. 

On Tuesday night, less than a day after news broke that former head coach Brian Kelly would leave South Bend for LSU, the newest rendition of the College Football Playoff Rankings came out. Notre Dame is sitting at No. 6, the same spot as last week, and Kelly’s departure could have a lasting impact on the final rankings. 

After briefly addressing it on the rankings show, CFP committee chairman Gary Barta doubled down on Kelly’s absence on the sidelines should the Irish be in the final conversation.

“The committee does have in our protocol the ability to consider any players that won’t be available or any coaches that won’t be available and then factor that in along with our other protocol, our other [ranking] criteria,” Barta said on a teleconference on Tuesday night. “So, … [if] the committee deems that it’s likely [not having a certain coach or player] will affect [a playoff game’s] outcome, that’s the words in the protocol, then that can be discussed and can be considered. And each of the 13 members can weigh that the way they want to weigh it, compared to head-to-head competition and common opponents and all the other things we evaluate.”

On the topic of results on the football field this season, Notre Dame is 11-1 and one of just six teams with a realistic shot at the playoff. Their one loss is to No. 4 Cincinnati, but they do not hold a top-25 win after Wisconsin fell out of the rankings this week and lost their chance to play Michigan for a Big Ten title.

“When all the champ games are done, that’s when we’ll do our homework. That’s when, if there is a team that’s going into a [potential playoff] game, where we can project whether or not a player or a coach not available is going to make a difference,” Barta added.

Coaching factor could mean more to some than others

While Barta is correct that the protocols for the CFP list coach and player availability as criteria for determining playoff teams, he emphasized the 13 members of the committee have the ability to weigh it in different ways. 

“It’s a piece of information that the management group has said the committee is able to use, but all 13 members may end up using it slightly differently when they place their vote,” Barta added. “That’s the beauty of the way the committee works. We all have this criteria that we need to use, we’re responsible for using. How each committee member uses that in their vote might be a little different for all 13.”

The final CFP rankings will be released on Sunday, Dec. 5 at noon ET. The four teams will play in the semifinals on Dec. 31, and the national championship will be played on Jan. 10 in Indianapolis, Ind.