Dick Vitale finds College Football Playoff selection committee far from awesome, baby

Dickie V knows football

Dick Vitale is well-known and loved as a passionate broadcaster and follower of college basketball. His boundless enthusiam and endless catch phrases have dominated college basketball for several decades. But Vitale pretty clearly knows the gridiron as well, and directed some harsh comments on Sunday to the College Football Playoff selection committee. The topic of discussion was Notre Dame, long a Vitale favorite, as he acknowledged 11 family members who have graduated from the school.

Notre Dame's rough situation

Notre Dame was ranked as the first team out of the College Football Playoff. The two biggest points of contention for the Irish and their fans are that three-loss Alabama remained ahead of them despite a 28-point loss in the SEC championship game, and that Miami-- consistently ranked behind Notre Dame in the CFP weekly rankings-- somehow jumped them in the final week despite neither team playing a game.

Vitale speaks out

Vitale shared a video to social media with comments he directed straight toward the CFP selection committee.

I'm really having a tough time. Every Tuesday for five consecutive weeks, you post on ESPN, the teams you think, the top 12 that would be eligible at that time to qualify for the Playoffs. Every week, EVERY, not two of the weeks, but all five weeks, you had Notre Dame over Miami. You had Notre Dame in there every week. How logically do they drop out on the last week, when they've done nothing in terms of losing a game during that period? Miami lost two games to unranked teams. I have a real tough time with that.... How do you explain the five weeks of having Notre Dame there and then bouncing them? They did zilch in terms of anything in causing that to happen. They didn't lose a game. They blew out everybody they played, and the bottom line is they got a raw deal. They got a raw deal. Those kids belong in the Playoffs.
Dick Vitale

Irish reaction

Despite the emotional pitch of his video-- and Vitale acknowledges that he's a fan of the Irish-- it's hard to argue with Vitale's fundamental talking points. Notre Dame pretty clearly felt the sting of CFP exclusion, as the Irish then turned down non-CFP bowl berths, indicating that for the Irish, the season ended up as CFP or bust. But even if the Irish are outside the Playoff, they do have one of the most notable voices in college sports indicating that their CFP exclusion is a difficult-to-justify stance that wrongs an excellent team.