O’Donnell: Cheer, cheer for Old Notre Dame — media-sharp Irish will win overall
“WHAT THOUGH THE COMMITTEE CHOOSE great or small,
“Old Notre Dame will cash over all
“While her loyal peeps are marching
“Onward to boycotting!”
THE LYRICS TO THE CLASSIC NOTRE DAME “Victory March” are ripe for tweaking.
They are mad in South Bend. They're indignant too.
The Irish rabid have been since Sunday, when the 12-person committee picking the field for the College Football Playoff left out ND (10-2; 10-0 since Sept. 13).
Notre Dame — the greatest brand name in the history of American college football — responded in appropriately crusading fashion:
The Rev. Robert Dowd — second-year university president — and athletic director Pete Bevacqua announced that the Irish will sit out the holiday bowl season.
THIS FROM A SCHOOL WITH an $18 billion endowment, a $2 billion annual operating budget and, for the past 35 seasons, a one-of-a-kind national TV contract with NBC Sports.
Second-tier bowl game?
The Irish don't need no stinking second-tier bowl game.
And the truth is, they don't.
ANYONE WHO WANTS TO ARGUE that they are not one of the 12 best FBS teams in the land right now must enjoy crimson tithes down in Tuscaloosa.
They are. But instead, relying on metrics that would confuse Euclid, chairman Hunter Yurachek and his CFP group opted for a field that includes five from Yurachek's home SEC, three from the Big Ten and singles from the Big 12, the ACC, the American Conference and the Sun Belt.
It's a mix that's brawny at the top and worthy only of participation ribbons at the bottom.
TWO PEOPLE NOW SITTING ON intriguing seats are ND coach Marcus Freeman and ACC commissioner Jim Phillips.
Freeman, 39, has four full seasons completed as grand master under the Golden Dome.
His 43-12 mark includes a high-tide kickoff vs. victorious Ohio State in the 2024 CFP title game last January.
But tucked within that record is a reality certain to have the demanding wee people grumbling:
FREEMAN APPEARS TO HAVE TROUBLE bringing an ensemble into a season at full throttle.
In the first three weeks of the 2022-25 campaigns, Freeman's Irish are a balky 7-5.
Throw out a 3-0 start in 2023 and that ledger dips to 4-5, including stunning home losses to Marshall (2022) and Northern Illinois (2024).
This season, ND opened with defeats by Miami (27-24) and visiting Texas A&M (41-40).
The Miami tropical depression was the CFP committee's ultimate justification for slotting the Hurricanes at No. 10 in their tournament field.
FREEMAN IS NOT YET A MARKED MAN in South Bend. But he could also easily leverage into another top job now, when his profile is still skewing undamaged.
He's also aware that when Irish influencers turn on their head coach, the flip is as ferocious as touring leprechauns asked to travel in cargo by Aer Lingus.
TY WILLINGHAM FELT THAT SORT of wrath in November 2004.
He built through three seasons and was set to go into '05 with a maturing roster featuring stars-to-be such as Brady Quinn, Jeff Samardzija and Arlington Heights’ very own Tommy Zbikowski.
Instead, the ND power people thought they had Utah's Urban Meyer set to fulfill a fated run to Touchdown Jesus.
When Meyer opted instead for Florida, Willingham was already toast and his team was handed to quirky Charlie Weis. Five years later, Weis fell out of favor and through the green trap door.
AS FOR JIM PHILLIPS, he's the Chicago native who served as athletic director at NIU (2004-08) and Northwestern (2008-2021). When he was passed over for Big Ten commissioner in favor of Kevin Warren in 2020, he redirected his resume and emerged as head of the ACC.
While Notre Dame remains one of the few independents in the FBS, the school participates in 24 sports as a member of the ACC.
That's why Father Dowd, Bevacqua and all were particularly miffed when the ACC Network replayed the Miami-ND game no fewer than seven times last week.
In South Bend, the pounding of that “Family Classic” — on the threshold of a bang-bang decision by the CFP committee — is being perceived as feloniously disrespectful.
That would also not suggest tidings of comfort and joy dead ahead for Phillips.
SINCE KNUTE ROCKNE WAS PIONEERING the marriage of radio, film and massively favorable coast-to-coast newspaper coverage with his assorted horsemen, the Roman Catholic school “on the prairie” and its football program have shown a propensity for prevailing in matters of image.
Whether winning, cashing or boycotting, Old Notre Dame will figure a way to score over all.
Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears each week on Sunday and Wednesday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com. All communications may be considered for publication.