Penn State’s James Franklin jabs at Notre Dame ahead of CFP matchup: ‘Everybody should be in a conference’

Before his Nittany Lions take on the Fighting Irish for a spot in the national title game, Penn State head coach James Franklin was blunt about Notre Dame not playing in a conference. 

Notre Dame is one of three teams that play an independent schedule in the FBS, but the College Football Playoff expansion has led Franklin to believe every team should be in a conference. 

It didn’t matter that Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman was right next to him during a joint press conference Wednesday. Franklin let his thoughts known. 

“It should be consistent across college football,” Franklin explained, via ESPN. “This is no knock at [Freeman] or Notre Dame, but I think everybody should be in a conference. I think everybody should play a conference championship game, or nobody should play a conference championship game. I think everybody should play the same number of conference games.”

To Franklin’s point, the Nittany Lions made the Big Ten championship game, where they lost to the Oregon Ducks, who were named the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff. The Ducks fell to Ohio State, who will take on Texas for the other spot in the national title game. 

Penn State played one more game than Notre Dame, which made the CFP as an at-large team with the No. 7 seed. 

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So, with more teams entering the playoff, Franklin is calling for every team to play the same number of games and belong to a conference. 

However, Notre Dame has been adamant about its independent status, which has been a part of its identity for decades. Other Fighting Irish teams play in the ACC, the conference with which the football program has a scheduling agreement.

There are also differences among conferences. For example, SEC teams play only eight conference games, while the Big Ten plays nine before conference championship games are played. 

Franklin likes the eight-game conference schedule in the SEC. 

“I was not a math major at East Stroudsburg, but just the numbers are going to make things more challenging if you’re playing one more conference game,” Franklin, who previously coached at Vanderbilt in the SEC, said. 

“We need somebody that is looking at it from a big-picture perspective.”

The CFP selection process was already ridiculed in this first year of an expanded playoff, with teams like Alabama being left out. Franklin wants to see consistency because of scheduling differences, which makes it difficult for the selection committee in his eyes. 

“How do you put those people that are in that room to make a really important decision that impacts the landscape of college football, and they can’t compare apples to apples or oranges to oranges?” Franklin wondered. “I think that makes it very, very difficult.”

Freeman said he recognizes how his program’s independence comes with a great sense of pride, but he also knows his squad can use conference championship weekend to rest and recover, a luxury only Notre Dame could afford before heading to the playoffs. 

“I’m a guy that just [thinks[, ‘Tell us what we’re doing, and let’s go.’ And you move forward,” Freeman said when asked about whether he had an opinion on the matter. “I love where we’re at right now. [Notre Dame athletic director] Pete Bevacqua and our Notre Dame administration will continue to make decisions that are best for our program.”

The Capital One Orange Bowl between Penn State and Notre Dame kicks off Thursday in Miami Gardens, Florida, at 7:30 p.m. ET.

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