Irish lies

OK. So not lies, exactly.

Not lies the way, say, Our Only Available President lies, or the way so many of his enablers lie, or the way so many of his like-minded brethren lie: Openly and with breathtaking gall. But just for funsies, let's look at the official reaction of Brian Kelly and his Notre Dame Fighting Irish to the news the Irish were ranked No.4 in the first official playoff poll, which means if the playoff began today they'd be in the thing:

KELLY (in so many words): Well, it's only the first poll, so it doesn't really matter.

HIS PLAYERS (in so many words): What Coach said.

And, yes, well, that's what you'd expect, right? The first rule of college football is to be openly disdainful of polls. That's because We're All About Focus Here. And because We're All About Focus, we can't be concerned with What People Outside The Program Say About Us. We're only focused on (name of next opponent here.)

That sound pretty accurate?

Except, see, people are human, even football people. And so let's break another cardinal football rule (Thou shalt not look ahead), and look ahead.

Ahead lies Northwestern, which is 5-3 and just beat Wisconsin, and it's at Northwestern, so that could maybe be pretty tough. And in a couple weeks the Irish get No. 19 Syracuse in Yankee Stadium, which is 6-2 and the only ranked team left on their schedule, so that might be a test.

Other than that?

Other than that all that's left is Florida State, which is 4-4, lost by 21 at home to a Wake Forest team Notre Dame crushed, and who even its head coach accused of quitting in a 59-10 loss to Clemson. And last but not least there is USC, which is 4-4 and not at all USC-ish, given that the Trojans have lost their last two, including to Arizona State at home last week.

So the likelihood of the Irish running the table at this point is far greater than not. And so you have to be wondering what the inner Brian Kelly and the inner Irish players were really thinking as they officially reacted so stoically:

KELLY (in so many words): Well, it's only the first poll, so it doesn't really matter.

HIS PLAYERS (in so many words): What Coach said.

INNER KELLY: Omigod, omigod, omigod! We're No. 4! If we win out we're in this thing!

INNER PLAYERS: What Coach said!

And then Inner Brian Kelly and his Inner Players caper happily around the locker room.

Or, you know, something like that.