Notre Dame falls in CFP rankings again, gets left out of playoff while Alabama, Miami get in

By MARK LONG

Despite winning every game for nearly three months, No. 9 Notre Dame dropped a spot in the final College Football Playoff rankings Sunday and was left out of the 12-team bracket entirely.

It was a hard fall from the couch.

The Fighting Irish, which won its last 10 games by an average of nearly 30 points, watched championship weekend from afar, idle as an independent with no options to impress the selection committee one last time in a league title game.

It...