Sure seems like the committee is going to screw over Notre Dame based on latest CFP rankings

Another week, another convincing win for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, who steamrolled Florida State by a score of 52-3 on Saturday night in South Bend. Riley Leonard continues to play mistake-free football through the air while killing teams on the ground, and this defense has weathered some key injuries to remain salty as ever under Marcus Freeman. Granted, the Seminoles are now 1-9 and look like one of the very worst teams in the Power 4 right now, but still: 52-3 is 52-3.

That's been something of a theme for Notre Dame of late. Since surviving a scare from Louisville in late September, the competition hasn't been too stiff for the Irish, with games against Georgia Tech and Navy at neutral sites and home dates with Stanford and FSU. And they've dealt with that soft schedule in exactly the way you'd hope a College Football Playoff contender would, winning by an average of 36 points a game.

You can't control who you play, but you can control how you play, and Notre Dame seems for all the world to be playing like one of the very best teams in the country — the main reason why they rank fourth in ESPN's catch-all Football Power Index, behind only Alabama, Texas and Ohio State.

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like the CFP committee has noticed. Or maybe it's just that they're unmoved. Because despite a slew of evidence in favor of taking the Irish very, very seriously as national title contenders, their College Football Playoff ranking remains stuck in neutral. And if Tuesday's updated rankings are any indication, it could cost Notre Dame come seeding time.

Notre Dame continues to be undervalued by College Football Playoff committee

The Irish checked in at No. 8 in the latest CFP rankings update on Tuesday night, just ahead of Miami and behind teams like Penn State, Indiana and Tennessee. Notre Dame's independent status already puts the team behind the 8-ball in the new 12-team field, with the first four seeds being reserved exclusively for conference champions. But even allowing for that caveat, it's tough to read this ranking as anything but disrespect.

To be clear, Notre Dame bears some responsibility here. If you don't want the committee to start poking holes in your resume, don't lose at home to Northern Illinois, a team that currently sits at 5-4 and 2-3 in the MAC. Freeman and Co. entered this year knowing that this schedule likely wouldn't provide ample opportunity for statement-making wins, and any slip-up would be magnified as a result. And for as impressive as their recent play has been, it's fair to still have questions about this offense's ceiling until we see Leonard throw the ball successfully against better defenses.

But even allowing for all of that, Notre Dame deserves better than it got here. Losing to Northern Illinois is certainly worse than losing to Arkansas or Ohio State, but it's also true that the Irish have spent far more time looking elite than either Tennessee or Penn State.

The Vols' resume is almost exclusively reliant on an ugly win at home over a two-loss Alabama team, while Notre Dame went on the road to beat Texas A&M and held off a very game, top-20 Louisville squad. The Nittany Lions, meanwhile, have beaten ... who exactly? Is slogging through the likes of Illinois, Wisconsin, USC and UCLA really making all that much of a statement?

The structural disadvantages were bad enough, but unless something drastically changes over the next few weeks, the committee might give Notre Dame a much tougher road than they should have to a potential national title.