Mahomes Beaming Over Texas Tech’s Rise, Tranquill Left Reeling by Notre Dame’s CFP Snub
As the Chiefs get ready to host the Chargers in a pivotal AFC West matchup on Sunday, the locker room buzz isn’t just about playoff positioning in the NFL. College football’s postseason shakeup is hitting home for a couple of Kansas City players - just in very different ways.
For Patrick Mahomes, it’s all smiles. His alma mater, Texas Tech, is having a moment.
The Red Raiders just captured their first Big 12 championship, taking down BYU in the title game, and punched their ticket to the College Football Playoff as the No. 4 seed. That top-four finish means a first-round bye in the newly expanded 12-team playoff format - a major milestone for a program that’s long been chasing national relevance.
Mahomes, who starred in Lubbock from 2014 to 2016, has stayed deeply connected to the program. He’s more than just a proud alum - he’s an investor in the culture, literally and figuratively. Through donations to Tech’s NIL initiatives and scholarship funds, Mahomes has helped fuel the Red Raiders’ rise from the ground up.
“It’s just really cool,” Mahomes said. “You can say you’re going to do things, and you can put money into it, but you’ve got to build a culture.”
That culture is clearly taking root. Tech now awaits the winner of Oregon vs.
James Madison in a national quarterfinal showdown set for the Orange Bowl on January 1. Mahomes isn’t just watching from afar - he’s emotionally invested in the climb.
“For them to get into the playoffs, win the Big 12 championship - which I know was their first goal - and have an opportunity to compete for a national championship, I’m excited to watch them go through the process,” he said.
But while Mahomes is riding high, linebacker Drue Tranquill is feeling the sting of disappointment. His alma mater, Notre Dame, was left out of the CFP bracket in a move that stunned many around the program. The Irish had been projected in the field by most analysts heading into Selection Sunday, and their résumé - including a higher ranking than Miami and a close proximity to Alabama - seemed to put them in strong position.
Then came the curveball. Despite Alabama’s 21-point loss to Georgia in the SEC title game and Miami’s absence from the ACC championship, both teams leapfrogged Notre Dame. The Irish were left on the outside looking in.
The response from South Bend was swift - and pointed. Notre Dame announced it would not accept a bowl invitation, a rare decision for a program that’s been a postseason mainstay. The Irish have played in 14 of the last 15 bowl seasons, making this year’s opt-out all the more telling.
“It’s unfortunate. I really thought Notre Dame was one of the top 12 teams in the country, and I thought coach (Marcus) Freeman had the boys humming,” said Tranquill, who captained the Irish in 2017 and 2018. “They seemed like one of those teams that could win a national championship this year.”
Notre Dame’s frustration is understandable. This is a program that made it all the way to the CFP championship game just last season, falling to Ohio State. Now, just a year later, they’re out of the playoff picture entirely - and not even headed to a bowl.
They’re not alone in turning down the postseason. Iowa State and Kansas State, both bowl-eligible with at least six wins, also declined invitations.
In those cases, coaching changes were the driving factor. For Notre Dame, it’s more about making a statement.
“It’s a wild landscape right now,” Tranquill said. “They’ve got some problems to figure out.”
He’s not wrong. Between the expanded playoff format, the impact of NIL, and the ever-changing transfer portal, college football is in the middle of a seismic shift. And while Mahomes is seeing his alma mater thrive in that chaos, Tranquill is left wondering how the Irish got left behind.
Two players, two schools, two very different December moods - all under one NFL roof.