D. Revelas

Stay the Course!

[D. Revelas @DRockIrish]

@ReceDavis and @KirkHerbstreit Why didn’t you press the #CFBPlayoff Committee to release the breakdown data from each metric for every school to justify their final 12 schools for the playoffs? Without data driven results, the decisions are flawed. Example below. #GoIrish ⬇️☘️

[Bryan Driskell @CoachD178]

In Alabama's last three games the offense had more carries (58) than rushing yards (48). That's disgusting.

[D. Revelas @DRockIrish]

After the complete disrespect #notredamefootball got from the #CollegeFootballPlayoff Committee this year, Freeman should take this out of the playbook for next season! #GoIrish ⬇️☘️

[Nick Perkins @NickyPerks]

Wake up & Make This Shit Personal

Tide by 90

[D. Revelas @DRockIrish]

@TheSharpeWit Probably you’re the only person that has hit the actual “nerve” to the problem. What amazes me is the silence by the media and journalists covering this topic. They didn’t ask to see the data to justify the “results”. It’s lazy reporting. #Accountability #GoIrish ☘️

[SharpeWit @TheSharpeWit]

Why the CFP Process Invites Controversy

Quick note before diving in: I’m not claiming to be an insider or expert. Everything below is based on publicly available information and my own research. If I’m missing context or misinterpreting something, I’m genuinely open to being corrected.

You don’t need conspiracy theories or backroom phone calls to understand why the CFP process feels off at times. You just need to understand incentives, ambiguity, and ordering.

Start with the structure.

The College Football Playoff does not operate with hard rules. It operates with principles: best teams, body of work, eye test, strength of schedule, head to head, common opponents. What it does not provide is a hierarchy, weighting system, or order of operations. That vagueness is not accidental.

Even when the committee explains decisions on TV, the language sounds less like football analysis and more like careful legal framing. The explanations avoid locking into precedent, which preserves flexibility. That flexibility matters because it allows outcomes to be justified after the fact rather than dictated by a formula.

Now layer in money.

Under the 12-team CFP, payouts go to conferences, not just individual schools. Each playoff bid is worth roughly $4 million, with additional money for advancing rounds. Conferences then distribute that revenue internally. One extra playoff team does not just benefit one program, it benefits an entire league.

Now add media rights.

ESPN owns the SEC Network outright and controls most of the ACC’s top media inventory. More SEC and ACC relevance means higher ratings, stronger ad inventory, and better leverage in future media negotiations. That does not require rigging games. It simply means that when decisions are close, incentives exist.

This is where tipping the scales could happen.

Not by forcing teams in, but by emphasizing certain resume data points, minimizing comparisons that create complications, freezing rankings when movement would raise cascading questions, and framing debates weeks in advance so outcomes feel expected.

Another part that often gets overlooked is how ranking order can be about future convenience, not just present merit.

When guidelines are vague and unweighted, rankings are not only about this week. They also shape how easy future explanations will be. Placing teams in a certain order can reduce the number of comparisons the committee has to defend later, avoid creating precedents they do not want to be boxed into, and simplify justification when similar situations arise again.

That does not mean a team does not deserve its spot. It means the ordering can be optimized to make future decisions easier to explain.

This helps explain why rankings sometimes appear frozen even after new information is added. Movement creates cascading questions. Freezing the order avoids them.

One common objection is that the committee is made up of ADs, presidents, and former coaches from a wide range of universities, not just the SEC or ACC. That’s true — and it matters. It significantly reduces the risk of outright corruption. But diversity of resumes does not eliminate structural incentives.

Committee members aren’t operating in a vacuum. They’re working within vague, subjective criteria, making consensus-based decisions, consuming the same media narratives, and understanding which outcomes create stability versus chaos. In that environment, no one has to act in bad faith for decisions to drift toward the most convenient or defensible outcomes. Integrity isn’t the issue. The structure they’re operating within is.

Media voices fit naturally into this ecosystem. When prominent analysts emphasize razor-thin margins, warn conferences about playoff positioning, or stress how costly certain losses could be, they are not setting rules. They are shaping expectations inside a system built on subjectivity. By the time the rankings are revealed, the outcome already feels familiar.

This is why the debate should not be reduced to team versus team arguments.

You can believe the final field is reasonable and still question whether the process and ordering were applied consistently. Those positions are not mutually exclusive.

A defensible outcome does not excuse selective use of criteria, shifting standards week to week, or rankings that appear driven by convenience rather than clarity.

Ambiguity helps networks.
Ambiguity preserves flexibility.
Ambiguity protects inventory.

Clarity helps fans.

If the CFP wants long-term credibility, the answer is not yelling “rigged.” It is demanding clear guidelines, transparent ordering logic, and consistent application in a system where billions of dollars and media incentives are involved.

That is not a conspiracy.
That is accountability.

[D. Revelas @DRockIrish]

@HunterYurachek Would you release the data from the metrics the #CFBPlayoff Committee used to determine final playoff rankings? Please include the data metric for #NotreDame and #BYU If data was released, it would clear up the perception that the process was flawed. #GoIrish ☘️

[D. Revelas @DRockIrish]

Exactly a week after announcing the 12-team #CFBPlayoff field, not one national media service/reporter has asked the committee for the release of the data of the metrics used to determine the field. Without presenting that data, the system is flawed & deemed corrupt. #GoIrish ☘️

[D. Revelas @DRockIrish]

@CoachTimmyHyde @BradPowers7 I’ve been asking several so called media “experts” why they haven’t pushed the #CFBPlayoff Committee on releasing data from these metrics to determine the final rankings. No response. Without factual data to support their results, the decision is flawed and corrupt. #GoIrish ☘️

[D. Revelas @DRockIrish]

@MarkRogersVOCFB Been away for personal/health reasons. Listened in on the latest clip you sent out. Just trying to remind /correct people that @NDFootball saved the #ACC and most likely #CFB during that dark period. #ESPN #GoIrish ⬇️☘️

[College GameDay @CollegeGameDay]

Dear Notre Dame,

On behalf of college football, we wanted to say thank you. (via @GenoEspn)

[D. Revelas @DRockIrish]

Instead of playing word games, why don’t you inquire w/the #CFBPlayoff Committee why they didn’t release data from the metrics they used for each school to determine the final rankings? Where is the data to support the final results? Without it, the process is flawed. #GoIrish ☘️

[Danny Kanell @dannykanell]

Let’s have some blind resume fun…

Team A: if they win a national championship they will split the $20 million payout with you.

Team B: if they win a national championship they will keep the $20 million payout all to themselves

Which team will you promote???

[D. Revelas @DRockIrish]

And, I haven’t seen any data released for each metric/per team to support their final rankings. Why hasn’t it been released publicly across all sports networks? #CFPRankings #CFBPlayoff @KirkHerbstreit @JoshPateCFB @PeteNakos @PeteThamel @CFBHeather @ReceDavis @espn #GoIrish ☘️

[Bryan Driskell @CoachD178]

Why do I say this? Because if they actually looked at EVERY. SINGLE. METRIC. that determines how teams play, not just who they play the decision between Notre Dame, Miami and Alabama is an easy one. ND and Miami are in, Alabama is out and this isn't debatable

[D. Revelas @DRockIrish]

I would think the creditably of the committee would be stronger if they publicly released the scoring of each data point for each school in the rankings. I have asked some media “experts” and no response. Thanks for your help. #GoIrish ☘️

[D. Revelas @DRockIrish]

@JohnDBrice1 What were the metrics the #CFBPlayoff Committee used to determine the final #CFPRankings ? What was the scoring of each data point for each team. Was all the info released? We got the final rankings (results) but not the data to support the committee’s decision. ☘️

[D. Revelas @DRockIrish]

@Brett_McMurphy I have not heard back from you. Thoughts?⬇️🤔☘️

[D. Revelas @DRockIrish]

@Brett_McMurphy You seem to have a pulse on what is going on in the #CFBPlayoff World. Did the committee release the scoring results of each metric used for each Top 25 team? I think #CFB fans would like to see how the committee came about w/the final rankings? #GoIrish ☘️

[D. Revelas @DRockIrish]

@Brett_McMurphy You seem to have a pulse on what is going on in the #CFBPlayoff World. Did the committee release the scoring results of each metric used for each Top 25 team? I think #CFB fans would like to see how the committee came about w/the final rankings? #GoIrish ☘️

[D. Revelas @DRockIrish]

Another documented piece! Wake up to all the “sheep” out there! ⬇️🤨☘️

[Matt @JerseySuave4]

@JohnMassingale4

[D. Revelas @DRockIrish]

2:15 on was especially interesting 🤔 ⬇️ #CFBPlayoff #CFPRankings #Espn ☘️

[Dan Patrick Show @dpshow]

"We're just trying to make sense of, what is the rationale here? What are the mitigating factors here of why you're putting somebody here, why you're putting somebody there?"

– DP gives his thoughts on Notre Dame missing out on the College Football Playoffs.

[D. Revelas @DRockIrish]

@PeetePigskin Being in a conference was not the issue. It was the committee’s rationale that fluctuated and was not consistent in the last several weeks. It was a moving target. All conference championship losers went down except for the Elephants who lost by 21🐘 ☘️

[D. Revelas @DRockIrish]

#GoIrish ⬇️☘️

[Benstonium @Benstonium]

Notre Dame beating PSU set to the "Rudy" soundtrack is 😭

(Edited on my phone)

[D. Revelas @DRockIrish]

#GoIrish #WeAreND ⬇️☘️

[TLN 🥍 @LacrosseNetwork]

The Notre Dame Lacrosse team held a watch party for last night's CFP Semifinal vs. Penn State...

This was their reaction to the game-winning field goal ☘️😂

@NDlacrosse | @NDFootball

(via IG/ckavv50)

[D. Revelas @DRockIrish]

@MarkRogersTV It sure was. But I know if there was one person who had the patience,interest, and appreciation to know more about the topic, it would be you! Glad you enjoyed it and hope all is well!👍☘️

[D. Revelas @DRockIrish]

@MarkRogersTV Pass this along to them… ⬇️👍☘️

[The Voice of College Football Network @TheVOCFB]

I might be able to stand being on Twitter by calling out the absurd, the mindless, the pointless, the illogical and the flat out factually incorrect.

Looks like it’s going to be a full time job.