It was just last week that Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel spoke out about Notre Dame’s lack of conference affiliation and whether it should play a role in the program’s ability to earn a playoff spot.
Ignoring the fact that Notre Dame’s schedule is more difficult than what his Tigers are going to go up against this year, Pinkel had the following to say:
“Give Notre Dame year to join a league. They don’t have independents in NFL.”
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney is now reiterating Pinkel’s stance:
Dabo Swinney agrees w/Gary Pinkel: “Absolutely Notre Dame needs to be in conference or play 13 games to be in @CFBPlayoff"
— Brett McMurphy (@McMurphyESPN) July 27, 2015
Rather than simply indicate that the Irish should be forced to join a conference, Swinney went on to say that the other option here would be for the program to play a 13th game.