ESPN/ABC’s Joe Tessitore and Jesse Palmer pine for Notre Dame while calling Tulane-Ole Miss

Even before Saturday, the discussion around the College Football Playoff and the inclusion of Group of 5 (G5) schools was already at full blast.

Unfortunately, Saturday’s results will probably turn that conversation up to 11.

The Tulane Green Wave were able to keep things relatively competitive for a half against the Ole Miss Rebels in their CFP first-round matchup, but they were eventually blown out 41-10. That was followed by a game between the Oregon Ducks and JMU Dukes that was out of hand before halftime.

Plenty of college football pundits had already been banging the drum to limit the number of G5 schools (or ban them outright) before this weekend. While we can only imagine the takes that await us on Monday, we couldn’t even get out of the Ole Miss-Tulane game before ESPN/ABC announcers were planting the seeds for the inevitable discussion.

With a little over seven minutes left in Ole Miss’s drubbing of Tulane, ESPN/ABC announcers Joe Tessitore and Jesse Palmer launched into a conversation about the inclusion of Tulane and JMU at the expense of Notre Dame, which was snubbed following a 10-2 season.

“We got a couple of Group of Five teams, and there’s Notre Dame at 10 wins,” started Tessitore. “If it was a different system, can you imagine this would have been Notre Dame at Ole Miss?”

“Listen, I’m all about inclusivity, and I’m fine with one Group of Five team making it into the 12-team fold. And that team deserved to be Tulane. They won the best Group of Five conference. They beat Duke, the eventual ACC champion,” said Palmer. “But as a fan, I want to see the other 11 teams that have a legitimate chance of winning a national championship. I think you and I, and Katie [George], having seen Notre Dame in person this year, I think you and I both feel that Notre Dame had a legitimate chance to compete for a national championship this year. I don’t know if James Madison really does. We’re going to find out tonight how they look against Oregon. But as we keep talking about and we keep working towards getting the 12 best teams in the playoff, I do think you have to cap the Group of Five participation at just one team as a starting point.”

Tessitore then dug the knife in deeper, saying the only reason G5 schools are included in the first place is for legal reasons.

“People have been open in talking about the why. ‘So why is this? Why is there inclusion? Why do we have the Group of Five then?’ At the end of the day, you’re avoiding antitrust lawsuits,” said Tessitore. “You’re basically saying, ‘Hey, the power for conferences can’t hog the whole thing. You have to have some inclusion.’ But the fans sit there, and they say, ‘I want the best 12 teams. I want to see a national championship to your point, where everybody truly is there to contend for a national championship.’ This has been a completely non-competitive game. If this was Notre Dame, what game would we have?”

“Imagine how big this environment already is for this one and what that would have looked like if Notre Dame had that opportunity,” added Palmer. “Of course, we got a rematch of something we already saw on the scoreboard in this game, not much different than what we saw earlier in September. I think this is something that the committee needs to continue working out as they press forward, as you take a look at what the bracket looks like right now.”

It’s become pretty clear that many of the college football power brokers would much prefer to see two-loss Notre Dame or a three-loss SEC school get these spots than a Tulane or JMU, regardless of record.

ESPN/ABC viewers are also no strangers to hearing their broadcasters put up rally cries for situations that would greatly benefit the company they work for in the ratings department. That may or may not be what’s driving Tess and Palmer, but it’s an unavoidable conflict that exists in the ether. That Tessitore cited legality as the reason the G5 schools are there, rather than their outstanding seasons and conference titles, is a choice. And having announcers who call a game openly wish that a different team were playing instead is also a choice.

There’s a case to be made on both sides. There’s been a strong push since the CFP began to reward tough scheduling over wins. There’s no doubt that the ratings would be higher for Notre Dame vs. Ole Miss. But does the 12th-best team in the nation “deserve” to be in the hunt for a national title? It wasn’t that long ago that it was an accepted truth that no one outside of the Top 5 of any given season was worthy of consideration. The goalposts have shifted wildly.

Ultimately, the writing is on the wall. The SEC, Big Ten, Notre Dame, and ESPN all want to see fewer G5 schools and more “traditional” schools in the CFP, so it’s going to happen. You sometimes just wish these behemoths had a little more dignity in how they crush the little guys.