No Kelly could hurt ND’s selection hopes
Notre Dame, with no games left and no head coach after the defection of Brian Kelly to LSU this week, sat at No. 6 in the secondto-last College Football Playoff rankings of the season, released Tuesday night.
Michigan moved up to No. 2, joining No. 1 Georgia, Alabama and Cincinnati in the top four heading into conference championship weekend. Oklahoma State is fifth going into the Big 12 championship game Saturday against No. 9 Baylor.
Kelly left the Fighting Irish and was introduced as the new coach at LSU on Tuesday, three days after independent Notre Dame finished its season 11-1. The Irish will find out their postseason fate Sunday after the conference championships are decided. Even if Notre Dame manages to finish among the top four and earn its third CFP berth in the last four seasons, Kelly would not coach the team, Irish athletic director Jack Swarbrick said.
“We’ve got great coordinators,” Swarbrick said, “and so I have every confidence that we will be fully prepared for what I hope is a CFP game. But if not, I’m certain there will be a great New Year’s Six game.”
CFP selection committee chairman Gary Barta, who is Iowa’s athletic director, noted that selection protocol requires the committee to consider the unavailability of players and coaches and how that could affect a team’s performance in the postseason.
“And each of the 13 members can weigh that the way they want to weigh it, compared to head-to-head competition and common opponents and all the other things we evaluate,” Barta said.
Losing Kelly had no impact on this week’s ranking for Notre Dame because the committee does not project ahead into the postseason until all games are finished.
Georgia again was first in the selection committee rankings, as it has been for every ranking so far, and Michigan rose to No. 2 after it beat last week’s No. 2, Ohio State. The Wolverines play 13th-ranked Iowa in the Big Ten title game. Alabama will be third going into the SEC title game with Georgia, and Cincinnati is fourth heading into its AAC title game against Houston.
The top four teams will play in the Orange and Cotton bowls on Dec. 31. The national title game is scheduled for Jan. 10 in Indianapolis.
This and that
Virginia Tech hired Penn State defensive coordinator Brent Pry, a disciple of longtime Hokies assistant Bud Foster, as its new head coach and will introduce him Thursday. He’ll replace Justin Fuente, who left earlier this month after going 43-31 in six seasons.
† Washington hired Kalen DeBoer as its new coach, giving him a five-year, $16.5 million deal after two seasons coaching Fresno State.
† Kentucky coach Mark Stoops has agreed to a contract extension that will keep him with the No. 25 Wildcats through June 2028.