Notre Dame had a very good team but not a great team. Looking over Notre Dame's schedule, of all the teams that ND played, only one team played an SEC team during the regular season and that was Wake Forest who was soundly defeated by Vanderbilt. The national championship game was a game between two different football cultures. Notre Dame has a proud football history and tradition but they were embarrassed in the championship game.
After watching the game, I did not feel that Notre Dame was the second best team in the country and even wondered where they would rank if they were members of the SEC. Here is what I came up with:
Notre Dame played the following teams during their successful season who played against SEC teams:
Michigan defeated by South Carolina, 33-28 in a bowl game
Oklahoma defeated by Texas A&M, 41-13 in a bowl game
Pitt (triple OT win by ND) defeated by Ole Miss, 38-17 in a bowl game
Wake Forest defeated by Vanderbilt, 55-21 during regular season
Of course, ND was defeated by Alabama, 42-14. If Notre Dame were a member of the SEC, where would ND rank? I feel that at best they would be a mid-range SEC team. The following is how I would rank the 2012 SEC teams plus ND:
1. Alabama
2. Texas A&M
3. Georgia
4. S. Carolina
5. LSU
6. Florida
7. Ole Miss
8. Notre Dame
9. Vanderbilt
10. MSU
11. Arkansas
12. Missouri
13. Auburn
14. Kentucky
Maybe an eight team playoff format would bring forth the best teams for the championship game. Hopefully at some time in the near future we will see it happen.
