The debate raged on, right up until late last Saturday night when Stanford kicker Conrad Ukropina drilled a 45-yard field to lift the Cardinal to a 38-36 win over Notre Dame and excuse the Irish from the table of playoff hopefuls.
Given the way things played out in college football yesterday, playoff odds were way long for Notre Dame even it did beat Stanford. But that doesn’t help to ease the pain of two heartbreaking two-point losses this season against two of the best teams in the country — Stanford and Clemson.