As many suspected, the final College Football Playoff rankings proved one thing quite loudly: Playing in the Power Five matters above all.
The playoff committee opting to keep Notre Dame in the top four wasn’t exactly a shock, given that Texas A&M, the team right on its heels, had a less impressive best win and its only loss came to Clemson, which finished No. 2 in the final rankings. A case could’ve been made for the Aggies, but it wasn’t any more compelling than Notre Dame’s, and dropping the Irish out of the playoff would have been a pretty severe punishment for losing in the ACC Championship Game.