The 2025 college football regular season is officially over for Notre Dame. Head coach Marcus Freeman’s squad ended with a 10-2 record, which included 10 straight victories to end the year, each of them coming by double-digits. The Fighting Irish were dominant for the most part down the stretch, and now it’s left up to the committee to see if it’s good enough to advance. 

While it would be great to say that Notre Dame can just rest on its own merits and let decision day play out, it still needs a couple of things to break its way down the stretch. Depending on a couple of games during the Conference Championship weekend, it could either make or break Notre Dame’s quest for another playoff run. Four teams in particular hold the key to whether the Irish make or miss the postseason.

Here are those programs, and what to watch for.

Ole Miss Rebels 

If you asked me this question last week, Ole Miss would not have been in this conversation for teams that could help Notre Dame. With former Rebel head coach Lane Kiffin leaving the program to take over the LSU Tigers, there is an interesting conversation with the playoff committee, especially given that several staff members are leaving with Kiffin.

When the committee decides on the teams that make the postseason, one criterion reads: “other relevant factors such as unavailability of key players and coaches that may have affected a team’s performance.” With those defections, it’ll be interesting to see whether Ole Miss gets dropped from the rankings altogether.

Alabama Crimson Tide 

Here is one of the easiest conversations with Alabama being right behind Notre Dame. The Crimson Tide has a chance to solidify its standing and potentially jump the Irish with a victory over the Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC Championship game. If Georgis wins, Notre Dame should be safe. Notre Dame really needs Kirby Smart’s crew to take care of business.

BYU Cougars

BYU is sitting at No. 11 in the rankings, and now it has a chance for some redemption against Texas Tech in the Big 12 Championship game. It is doubtful that the Cougars will come out with the victory, but if they do, it would be disastrous for the Irish.

If they lose, BYU will fade off into the sunset, and Notre Dame will more than likely be safe. If both BYU and Alabama lose, then the Fighting Irish will be safe for their postseason opportunity.

Miami Hurricanes

Miami fans have remained very loud on Twitter, but I have a feeling that noise may be silenced soon. In theory, they could factor into the Notre Dame playoff formula, with the head-to-head matchup going in the Hurricanes’ favor, but I don’t think it’ll get that far.

The committee has made it very clear what their opinion is on Notre Dame versus Miami. With similar results to common opponents in recent weeks, what exactly will push Miami over the top?

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