Fox analyst says committee used ‘eye test’ to put Notre Dame ahead of Alabama

Photo By Cedric Mason - Touchdown Alabama

Fox College Football Sports analyst and commentator Joel Klatt feels the committee used the ‘eye test’ in its decision to put Alabama behind Notre Dame in its latest rankings.

The Crimson Tide and the Fighting Irish are both 8-2. The Tide has wins over four ranked teams, while Notre Dame has one win over a ranked team. Alabama is ranked No. 10, and Notre Dame is ahead of them at No. 9. Klatt feels the committee made the wrong decision when looking at both teams’ resume.

“If you’re going by resume, what the committee did is the wrong answer because the resume for Alabama is much stronger than Notre Dame,” Klatt said. “They’re both eight and two, yes, but the best win being in Athens against Georgia takes the cake and it should. The best win Notre Dame has is against USC. Nothing to scoff at. They’re the 15th ranked team in the country. But remember that game happened in South Bend and that’s a USC team that up to that point had not shown that they could play very well on the road. Now they have since played better on the road and we’ll see them on the on the road this week against Oregon. More on that game in a little bit. But in a resume comparison, it’s not a comparison and Bama should have been number nine.”

Klatt then went on to say he believes the committee leaned into the eye test when making this decision.

“But remember, they’re going more eye test,” Klatt added. “And again, I told you that I think this is speculation that the coaches in the room are really carrying the day and they would likely value a running game over a one-dimensional team that throws the football. And so stylistically, I think that they look at Notre Dame and they value them more than they value Alabama, and that’s obvious. They ranked them ahead by one spot. So Bama is now at 10 and Notre Dame is nine, but conveniently, look at what that does to the bubble line. It allows them to move Notre Dame away from the bubble line and away from a direct comparison with a team that beat them, Miami.”

Notre Dame and Alabama both remain in position to make it to the playoff.