An uneven day across College Football has some Notre Dame fans skeptical about their playoff chances – Where things actually stand 

Where does Notre Dame actually stand in the CFB Playoff conversation?

Ryan Roberts — National College Football Writer
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As a Notre Dame fan, being a bit skeptical is completely understandable. This is an Irish fanbase that is starved for a National Championship after former head coach Brian Kelly set a solid floor, but really dulled high expectations. Head coach Marcus Freeman has been reprogramming those expectations, and we have already seen better results in big games, and more believe that things will continue to get better. 

Some of that Fighting Irish pessimism is starting to creep back in when discussing the College Football Playoff right now. Sitting with a 10-2 overall record, which includes ten straight victories, Notre Dame has been inside of the Top-10 of each playoff ranking so far. Despite that, many have theorized every hypothetical that will keep the Irish out when the final ranking is released next Sunday. 

With the regular season now wrapped up following Notre Dame’s 49-20 victory over Stanford on Saturday night, the debates are only going to heat up while the Irish can only sit back and watch the conference championships next weekend. A lot can change from here, but the reality is that Notre Dame continues to be in a good spot. Here’s their playoff reality. 

Uneven Saturday for Notre Dame 

Notre Dame football took care of business on Saturday night, defeating Stanford on the road to maintain their win streak. While the final score may not have been as sexy as the team’s 70-7 throttling of Syracuse last week, that score did not tell the full story. The Irish led 28-0 in the second quarter, 35-3 at halftime, and 49-13 late in the game. That game was not competitive, but the Cardinal scored two fourth quarter touchdowns to make it look more respectable after the team called off the dogs. 

The good news for Notre Dame is that the playoff committee watches the games. They don’t just surf box scores and make conclusions without context. That’s a big reason why the committee has been high on the Irish to begin with. 

While fans were freaking out about teams around Notre Dame winning, once again, context is needed. The fans have been worried about Alabama, who sits at No. 10 in the rankings currently, jumping them but is an ugly win over a 5-7 Auburn team going to do it? No, Notre Dame will remain ahead of the Crimson Tide this week. 

BYU (11) also struggling against a 5-7 UCF team on Saturday isn’t going to threaten the Irish either. Miami (12) beating Pitt by basically the same margin that Notre Dame beat the Panthers by isn’t going to do it either. None of those teams are going to jump Notre Dame this week, and they shouldn’t. 

Would it have been more comforting for a team or two of them to lose? Absolutely! Would it have been nice for Oklahoma to lose to LSU in their ugly performance? For sure, but none of those results hurts Notre Dame right now. They continue to be exactly where they have been – in a good spot. 

Final Playoff projection 

Heading into conference championships next weekend, there are two games that Notre Dame fans should keep a close eye on. The first is the SEC Championship game between Alabama and Georgia. If the Crimson Tide beat the Bulldogs, then they have a great chance to jump the Irish. The fanbase is going to want Alabama to lose that one. 

The other game is the Big 12 Championship game between Texas Tech and BYU. It is unlikely that the Cougars win, but if they do, that would be a big issue for Notre Dame. The Big 12 getting two teams into the field would be the worst case scenario. If both of these outcomes happen, that’s when the Irish fanbase should get worried, but that happening is very unlikely. 

In the end, Notre Dame has a great chance at making the playoffs. They will most likely not host a home playoff game, but I believe they will likely end as the No. 9 seed in the bracket, but No. 10 at worst. Everyone is already freaking out about the Domsday scenario, but the odds of that happening are just so low.

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