Notre Dame football creating an interesting pivot point that could maximize the weak points of their resume for a CFB playoff berth
Notre Dame’s playoff chances hinders on a unique pivot point.
Despite two early losses to the Miami Hurricanes and Texas A&M Aggies, Notre Dame football finds themselves in a very good spot in the first College Football Playoff rankings. Head coach Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish squad came in as the No. 10 team in the initial rankings, and if the season ended today, they would be in the playoffs. They also would face off against the (7) BYU Cougars in the first round as things currently sit.
Notre Dame is riding a resume built off of those two quality losses and a string of dominant performances against the rest of their schedule. When it comes to those losses, the Irish have created an extremely interesting pivot point that could help them immensely in the end. Some will roll their eyes, but the position for the Irish is about as ideal as you can ask for from a team with a 6-2 overall record.
The obvious first point of conversation is that Notre Dame’s only two losses have come against two highly ranked teams. It helps that each game could have gone either way.
Quality losses helping Notre Dame
Texas A&M currently sits as No. 3 in the country, an undefeated SEC program that is one of the more improved teams so far this season. It was a heartbreaking loss when Notre Dame fell 41 to 40 several weeks ago, but anyone who watched that game knows that the Irish could have easily won. It’s a great measuring stick, and shows that Notre Dame can compete against even the best in college football in 2025.
With the Aggies in the position they are, it’s helping the Notre Dame resume right now. It isn’t just about playing good teams. It’s about competing against them, and having a chance to win.
Even with Miami losing to SMU this past weekend, they are still rated as the No. 18 team in the country in the first ranking. If you’re Notre Dame, you are going to want the Hurricanes to continue winning. If the Irish end the season with a 10-2 record and those two losses came against two Top-20 teams, then it’ll be extremely hard for anyone to try and make a case against them.
Texas A&M buoying the Irish resume
When we talk about a pivot point, Notre Dame is right in the middle between the Aggies and the Hurricanes, seven spots down and eight spots up, respectively. As long as Texas A&M remains high, it helps the Fighting Irish tremendously. They are going to buoy their case to remain in the playoff race, as long as Notre Dame takes care of business the rest of the season. The importance of the Aggies continuing to play well can’t be understated.
Miami tie breaker won’t matter
With the Aggies over top of Notre Dame, it’s also important that Miami stays behind them in the ranking. If both the Irish and Hurricanes finish the season at 10-2 (assuming that Miami doesn’t win the ACC championship), there will be some who will argue that the tie breaker should go in Miami’s favor if it comes to that. While there’s an interesting debate because of that head-to-head, the quality of losses aren’t even close between the two.
The distance between the two right now plays into the favor of the Irish. As long as Notre Dame wins out, it is highly unlikely that Miami would be able to cut the gap enough to have a true debate. Those eight slots of separation will most likely save the tie breaker hypothetical, assuming that Miami doesn’t lose another game.
In a perfect world, Notre Dame will want to win out, and both Texas A&M and Miami to finish strong. If it does play out that way, their playoff spot will all but be solidified. This pivot point could play into their favor greatly.
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