Notre Dame Guarantee starting 2026

[StevensTechU]

If the playoff stays at 12 teams, Notre Dame will be guaranteed a slot as long as they are ranked within the top 12.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-footb ... -schedule/

[greenyellow]

They don't realize how good they have it by continually getting these types of carveouts.

[squintsdd]

It's all about money, and Notre Dame has the largest fan base in the country. Hopefully they continually get ranked 13th year after year, just so we can continue to watch them cry

[duckpoint]

I assume that the lack of special treatment until now was due either to Notre Dame arrogance that they would be good enough to not need special standards with the expanded format and would win any close selection decisions because 'Notre Dame', and/or the CFP (new BCS) wanted to avoid AQ language that could be assessed to specific teams or conferences. Wasn't it the threat of lawsuits and congressional action due to the inequalities that forced the changes from the old BCS?

Standard for Notre Dame During the BCS Era

The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) operated from the 1998-99 season through 2013-14 as college football's system for determining a national champion and selecting teams for major bowl games. Notre Dame, as a football independent (not affiliated with a conference for football), had a unique "Notre Dame Rule" embedded in the BCS selection procedures. Under this rule, Notre Dame automatically qualified for a BCS bowl berth if it finished in the top 8 of the final BCS standings, which were based on a combination of human polls (AP and Coaches) and computer rankings.

This guaranteed spot was not tied to winning a conference championship, as Notre Dame did not participate in one, but required strong regular-season performance to achieve the ranking threshold. If ranked lower but still in the top 14 and with at least nine wins, Notre Dame could be considered for an at-large selection, similar to other eligible teams.

Notre Dame participated in three BCS bowls under this system: the 2001 Fiesta Bowl (after a 9-2 season, ranked No. 15 but selected at-large), the 2006 Sugar Bowl (10-2, ranked No. 5), and the 2007 Sugar Bowl (10-2, ranked No. 4)—though they lost all three.

Financially, Notre Dame received a fixed payout of about $4.5 million for BCS appearances (under the 2006 contract), plus a smaller annual share ($1.3 million when not participating), which was less than what AQ conference champions typically earned ($18 million or more, shared among conference members).

However, their inclusion boosted overall BCS revenue through high TV ratings and attendance, indirectly benefiting other schools.

How It Differed from Other Teams

Notre Dame's treatment stemmed from its historical prestige, national fanbase, and exclusive NBC TV contract, which gave it leverage during BCS negotiations in the 1990s.

This set it apart in several ways: From Automatic Qualifying (AQ) Conference Teams (e.g., ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10/12, SEC): AQ conference champions received automatic BCS berths primarily by winning their conference title game, without needing a top-8 ranking—though they often had to be in the top 14 if highly ranked non-champions filled slots.

Non-champion teams from these conferences could qualify as at-large selections if in the top 14 with nine wins, but conferences were capped at two teams total per BCS lineup (unless exceptions applied, like if two non-champions were ranked No. 1 and No. 2).

In contrast, Notre Dame's path relied solely on rankings without a conference safety net, requiring a higher threshold (top 8) for automatic entry, but it avoided the risk of losing a conference championship game. AQ teams also shared larger revenue pools, while Notre Dame's earnings were fixed and not distributed conference-wide.

From Non-AQ Conference Teams (e.g., Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, Sun Belt, WAC): These champions faced stricter criteria for automatic qualification: top 12 in standings, or top 16 and ranked above at least one AQ champion, with only one non-AQ team allowed per season.

This created inequality, as non-AQ teams often needed near-perfect seasons to compete, and they lacked Notre Dame's guaranteed top-8 pathway. Notre Dame was effectively treated as an AQ equivalent due to its brand, while non-AQ teams criticized the system for favoritism toward power conferences and independents like Notre Dame.

From Other Independents (e.g., Army, Navy, BYU before 2011): Unlike Notre Dame, these teams had no special rule and were grouped with non-AQ conferences for eligibility, requiring the same high thresholds without automatic guarantees. They lacked Notre Dame's revenue-sharing perks or TV leverage, making their BCS access even rarer (e.g., only a few non-Notre Dame independents like BYU in 2009 made it via at-large).

Overall, the "Notre Dame Rule" was controversial, viewed by some as undue privilege, but defended as economically beneficial to the BCS.

It highlighted broader BCS inequalities, contributing to the system's replacement by the College Football Playoff in 2014, where Notre Dame remains independent but competes under a more inclusive format without special auto-bids.

[StevensTechU]

I unknowingly hurt an Alabama fan's feelings the other day when I said that Alabama isn't one of the three biggest college football properties, because Ohio State, Notre Dame and Texas are definitely bigger. I said Alabama is on the same level as LSU, Florida, and others where their relevance to the average person is pretty contingent on how good they are that year and the year before. They've been good for a long time under Saban but a couple bad years in a row would greatly diminish their value. I didn't say this to intentionally dis his school and thought I was just stating the obvious.

Anyhow, I agree that ND brings in the ratings, but I'm still going to say this is utter horse s***. Because they aren't in a conference, I could see this as a framework where you say ND and UConn get in if they're ranked in the top 9-10 automatically because the same would be true if a major conference champ was ranked that high, but putting the bar at 12 for a 12 team field means there's a great chance a 2-3 loss Notre Dame could get into the field over a higher ranked team due simply to contractual obligations.

[UOducksTK1]

If they aren't in the top 12 with their schedule next year, they have issues.

[duckpoint]

We're in the (yearly) complaining about the system phase, soon to shift to the how do we fix it phase. JD Pickell @ On3 speculates an expansion to 16 teams with a 1 G5 team limit. While I can't refute that is what they'll do as I believe the inequality is a feature of the system not a flaw, I do think it leads back to the same problem the old BCS had which was threatened lawsuits. I do not feel that congress should get involved, but suing the CFP is almost inevitable until they break away a new division instead of operating a 2 tiered division pretending that it is equal and fair...

[GrandpaDuck]

This type of favoritism to ND is why I am so pleased with what happened this year.

Notre Dame absolutely should have gotten in over Miami. Its two losses were to top 15 teams by 4 points total with a freshmen quarterback and new DC in the first two games of the season. They then reeled off 10 double digit wins in a row.

Miami's losses were to unranked teams in October. Their head to head was the first game and Their season trajectory was down while Notre Dames was up.

ND would be a heavy favorite at this point in the year.

But if any school ever deserved to be hosed over in playoff selection it is ND. And since they are being whiny insufferable bitches as usual it makes it all the better.

[Greenblood]

IIRC, the ND rule as it functioned during the BCS era did specifically keep the Ducks out of a major bowl at the end of the 2005 season.