Why did Penn State stay ahead of Notre Dame in latest CFP rankings? Warde Manuel explains
Penn State is still at No. 4 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings. Entering Tuesday night, some thought 10-1 Notre Dame would jump the 10-1 Nittany Lions after the former blew out Army last week while the latter topped Minnesota 26-25. However, the Fighting Irish moved up just one spot to No. 5 while head coach James Franklin’s team remained in place at No. 4.
Head coach Marcus Freeman’s team’s lone blemish came back in September when it lost 16-14 to Mid-American Conference program Northern Illinois at home. Since, the Fighting Irish have reeled off nine straight wins, all of which have come by double digits, and seven have come by at least 20 points. The Nittany Lions, meanwhile, lost to No. 2 Ohio State at home 20-13 earlier this month and are otherwise unbeaten this year.
Asked why the Lions are ahead of the Fighting Irish, CFP selection committee chair Warde Manuel pointed to both teams’ resumes up until this point in time and also who they lost to as the reason why.
“Well, you know, there was a lot of discussion about those teams and how they have performed,” Manuel, the Michigan athletic director, said. “Penn State’s only loss is to the number two team in the country. They have a win over No. 23 Illinois. Notre Dame has [a win] now over No. 20 Texas A&M as of today. Army [who Notre Dame beat last week] is not in the rankings.
Top 10
- 1Hot
New CFP Top 25
College Football Playoff rankings revealed
- 2New
Strength of Schedule
CFP Top 25 SOS ranking
- 3Trending
12-Team CFP bracket
Updated College Football Playoff bracket
- 4
Hunter Dickinson ejected
Kansas big man kicks Duke player in head
- 5
Colbie Young status
Kirby Smart reveals latest on Georgia WR
“Notre Dame’s loss was to Northern Illinois at the beginning of the year. But they’ve won nine straight games in a pretty dominant fashion since then. And so from our standpoint, resumes are pretty close in terms of how we see them. Obviously, with them ranked four and five.”
The final week of the regular season will play a role in the Penn State-Notre Dame discussion
That much is clear. And, it’s an important conversation. Based on the current rankings and how those project to possible CFP seeds, each team is currently in line to host a College Football Playoff first round game. Based on Tuesday’s top 25, the Fighting Irish would be No. 7 and host No. 10 SMU. No. 6 Penn State would host No. 11 Indiana. But, the order could flip based on how the regular season finale goes for both teams. The Lions are a 24.5-point favorite over Maryland. The Fighting Irish, meanwhile, are a 7.5-point favorite at USC, which PSU beat in overtime earlier this year.
“They both have games this week that we will watch,” Manuel said. “We’ll be watching how they perform, and start assessing when we get together on Monday [next week], to look at what transpired over the weekend.”
