After beginning the year with a 0-2 record, head coach Marcus Freeman has led Notre Dame football to five straight victories. The Fighting Irish now enter a much-needed bye week, giving Notre Dame players and fans a chance to step back, relax, and watch some college football without much competitive anxiety. I am sure the players, such as Jeremiyah Love and CJ Carr, won’t complain about some rest.

At least, that is what the fans wanted to believe.

Although it may be a bye week, and there is no Notre Dame action, the fans need to be rooting hard this weekend. With the Irish sitting at No. 12 in the latest AP Poll, seeing some teams could help Notre Dame. Here are some games that fans should keep a close eye on. Several of the games could make or break their College Football Playoff chances.

(8) Ole Miss over (13) Oklahoma 

Some will look at this matchup and assume that Notre Dame will want Ole Miss to lose. They are the higher-rated team between the two, sitting at No. 8 in the latest AP Poll, but the philosophy is to let a team eliminate itself rather than create a logjam of SEC teams. If Oklahoma loses, they are all but eliminated from playoff contention. If Ole Miss loses a close game, there’s a chance that the Sooners jump Notre Dame and allow the Rebels to stay ranked high as well. 

In an ideal world, you want there to be a hierarchy in the SEC and Big Ten in most years. The more teams that cluster, the worse it will be for the Fighting Irish down the stretch. 

Iowa State over (11) BYU 

With BYU ranked one spot higher than Notre Dame, this is the game with the easiest initial impact on the Fighting Irish. The Cougars have proven to be a tough team that plays good defense and runs the football at a high clip, but they are far from susceptible to a loss. Iowa State is the type of team that could cause some major issues if they let them. This is a plausible upset, and I’m pretty confident that it happens. 

Syracuse over (7) Georgia Tech 

This one should be pretty self-explanatory. After showing signs of life early in the season, Syracuse has been a disaster since starting quarterback Steve Angeli was lost for the year with an Achilles injury.

If the Orange muster up a great performance against Georgia Tech, it would be almost impossible to justify them being over Notre Dame. The Irish could get a nice little bump despite being on a bye week.

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