On the Jim Rome Show, Dan Lanning claps back on teams whining about the CFP

Dan Lanning had the perfect answer to coaches and athletic directors wheedling for inclusion in the College Football Playoff, looking for exceptions or special considerations, making convoluted arguments about strength of schedule, even opting out of bowl games.

"Anybody that's complaining that they're not in, that means they didn't win enough," Lanning said.

"It's your fault if you don't make it."

"If we made it 24 teams, everybody would be talking about who the 23rd and 24th team was."

"Ultimately you always control your destiny if you win enough games."

Lanning's comments came on the heels of reports that Notre Dame received a memorandum of understanding that grants them preferential playoff access starting next year, according to a report by Dan Wolken of Yahoo Sports.

Wolken wrote that the Irish leadership "squawks and threatens like a 7-year-old mad at their parents." They were left out of the College Football Playoff on Sunday, bumped by Miami, Tulane and James Madison after falling to No. 12 in the final committee rankings.

The storied program from the shadow of Touchdown Jesus didn't win enough, starting the season 0-2 with losses to the Hurricanes and Texas A&M. They cruised to a 10-0 finish from that point, beating a series of Tomato Cans like Purdue, Arkansas, USC and Stanford, a body of work that began with two losses, ended with only one win over the final Top 25.

By inference, Lanning's sharp comments include BYU, Vanderbilt and Texas. You didn't win enough, losers.

ND athletic director Pete Bevacqua hinted at a divorce with the ACC and their cooperative scheduling arrangement. On Sunday the Irish players voted to opt out of bowl consideration, joining Kansas State and Iowa State, who are undergoing coaching changes.

The Golden Domers could have played in the coveted Pop Tarts Bowl against BYU, making a down payment on inclusion in the playoff field next year. Instead they focused their efforts on legislating and negotiating their way in. Already they avoid the risk of a conference championship game.

There's growing talk of reprisal, some athletic directors and conference commissioners suggesting a "freeze out," a refusal to schedule the Irish until this idea of preferential seeding or a special arrangement is snuffed out like Fredo at the lake.

It's a big competitive comedown for a school with 11 national championships, though none since 1988, the school of Knute Rockne, Frank Leahy, Ara Parseghian and Lou Holtz. Now all they have left is the lisp, a bruising running back and a long Christmas vacation. They've lampooned themselves.