CFP’s absurd Notre Dame exemption begs the question: Should Penn State have stayed independent?

Penn State became a full member of the Big Ten in 1993, and the move from independence has largely been a positive for the Nittany Lions’ athletic department and football program. In a sport that continues to separate the 'haves' from the 'have-nots' and further consolidates around its two mega conferences, the Big Ten and the SEC, every year, Penn State’s place among the ‘haves’ is solidified by its Big Ten membership. 

Yet, on Friday, in a move that was reportedly in the works for months, the College Football Playoff made a shocking case for the advantages of independence. Through the first two years of the 12-team CFP format, the only automatic bids were guaranteed to the five highest-ranked conference champions. For Year 3, that will change. 

This year’s formula left Notre Dame on the sidelines this postseason. The Fighting Irish were the first team left out of the field as Miami claimed the final at-large spot, and Tulane and James Madison locked in the 11th and 12th seeds as the fourth and fifth-highest-ranked conference champs. Then, Miami went from the No. 10 seed to the national championship game. 

By the rules for next season, Notre Dame would have been in over Miami, based on an absurd exemption the CFP inexplicably handed to Irish athletic director Pete Bevacqua. Going forward, if Notre Dame, ineligible to win a conference because, you know, it refuses to join one, finishes in the top 12 of the CFP rankings, it will earn an automatic bid into the field. 

Notre Dame lands unprecedented exception into the 12-team CFP field

Bevacqua sits on the CFP management committee, the only AD in the country to occupy such a powerful role. The rest of the Power 4 programs rely on their conference commissioner to represent their best interests. Notre Dame has direct access to the CFP planning process, and that has clearly worked in the program’s favor with this unprecedented path to a spot in the CFP. 

To be clear, this exception has not also been granted to UConn, the FBS’s other remaining independent. Nor does UConn athletic director David Benedict sit on the CFP management committee. This is blatant Notre Dame favoritism. 

Had Penn State stayed independent, it likely would never have occupied such an elevated place in the hierarchy of the sport. But it wouldn’t be UConn either. And if the best independents in college football are going to have such an outsized influence on the championship format, it’s hard not to wonder if that’s the preferable path. 

Not only does Notre Dame now have a chance for an automatic bid, but the Irish will never have to play in a conference championship game, risking injury and general attrition before the CFP. That’s pretty much the perfect setup, and it’s only made possible by the Irish’s independence. That's without mentioning how easy Notre Dame's schedule is year after year without a conference slate to navigate.