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you're thinking of the Cow named Ralphie

long before the Canes became the lawless CoCanes, Notre Dame was hated mostly for their winning and arrogance 

that's what usually qualifies a team to be strongly disliked, winning and arrogance go hand in hand

the other thing is simply cheating

I fondly remember the mid-90s when the Huskers were possibly the most "hated" team

I have a healthy sports-rivalry hatred for OU, Texas A&M, and Arkansas, even still.

Among non-rivals, I still hate Miami with the white-hot intensity of a thousand burning suns.

And I sorta hate ND but not as much as I used to.

• It's going to school in the state of Indiana where people who attended neither school grew up to be ND football / IU basketball reversible jacket fans.

I can one up you.

I have a co-worker whose husband went to Purdue...and is an ND football/IU basketball fan

I can one up you.

I have a co-worker whose husband went to Purdue...and is an ND football/IU basketball fan

I actually knew a girl at Purdue who was an ND football fan, but didn't really get into basketball at all. She grew up in Indianapolis and her dad was a big ND football fan (but didn't attend ND). 

I don't know why she came to Purdue. She was an elementary education major. Seemed like IU would have been the perfect school for that, instead of hanging out with us nerds.

Does any team outside the preseason top 25 have any chance to win the NC?  By "any", I mean something higher than 0.001%.

Probably only the top 12 or so have some realistic chance, maybe the next 13 have a chance of something like once in 20 years?  Would be interesting to calculated based on experience, but we won't have that.  Just making the top four would be possible, I think.

I think you'd have to find a team that was just outside the top 25 and had a bad previous year but still had a lot of talent on the roster. Probably in a weak conference / weak division, with a cakewalk to their CCG. Even then, they'd have to be 13-0 to have a chance which would probably take some lucky breaks, just to get to the CFP.

From there, you just have to hope that they have enough talent to compete and things fall their way. Beating two top teams isn't impossible, but it would be REALLY hard. 

I'd call it greater than 0.001%, but not by much. 

This would be one of those good times to look at the 20,000 simulated season type predictions and see how often it occurs. 

Does any team outside the preseason top 25 have any chance to win the NC?  By "any", I mean something higher than 0.001%.

Probably only the top 12 or so have some realistic chance, maybe the next 13 have a chance of something like once in 20 years?  Would be interesting to calculated based on experience, but we won't have that.  Just making the top four would be possible, I think.

Probably not.  Here are past AP champions and their preseason AP rankings:

• 2020, #3 Bama
• 2019, #6 LSU
• 2018, #2 Clemson
• 2017, #1 Bama
• 2016, #2 Clemson
• 2015, #3 Bama
• 2014, #5 tOSU
• 2013, #11 FSU:  NOTE, 2013 and prior is pre-CFP, the BCS era
• 2012, #2 Bama
• 2011, #2 Bama
• 2010, #22 Auburn
• 2009, #5 Bama
• 2008, #5 Florida
• 2007, #2 LSU
• 2006, #7 Florida
• 2005, #2 Texas
• 2004, #1 USC
• 2003, #8 USC
• 2002, #13 tOSU
• 2001, #2 Miami

So in the last 20 years I have:

• 2 preseason #1's
• 7 preseason #2's, cumulative 9 or 45%
• 2 preseason #3's, cumulative 11 or 55%
• 0 preseason #4's
• 3 preseason #5's, cumulative 14 or 70%
• 1 preseason #6, cumulative 15 or 75%
• 1 preseason #7, cumulative 16 or 80%
• 1 preseason #8, cumulative 17 or 85%
• 0
• o
• 1 preseason #11, cumulative 18 or 90%
• 0 
• 1 preseason #13, cumulative 19 or 95%
• 0 
• 0
• 0
• 0
• 0
• 0
• 0
• 0
• 1 preseason #22, cumulative 20 or 100%

Almost three-quarters were preseason top-5 and your guess that "maybe the next 13 have a chance of something like once in 20 years?" is nearly dead on.  The preseason top-13 won 19 of the last 20 NC's with the next 12 winning once in 20 years (#22 Auburn in 2010).  

Does any team outside the preseason top 25 have any chance to win the NC?  By "any", I mean something higher than 0.001%.

Probably only the top 12 or so have some realistic chance, maybe the next 13 have a chance of something like once in 20 years?  Would be interesting to calculated based on experience, but we won't have that.  Just making the top four would be possible, I think.

does a 12-team playoff give them a better chance?