What A Win Against Georgia Means For Notre Dame

The upcoming Notre Dame game against Georgia is a season-defining one.

If Notre Dame is able to go into a hostile environment in Athens, Georgia and upset the No. 3 ranked Georgia Bulldogs, it will have a variety of ramifications.

While easily the toughest test of the season for the Irish, the fact that the team is getting healthier going into this matchup — gaining standout tight end Cole Kmet, sophomore running back Jahmir Smith and potentially starting wide receiver Michael Young back against the Bulldogs — bodes well for a team that has already been excelling on offense to begin the season.

So what would be the fallout from an Irish upset over SEC powerhouse Georgia this weekend?

First, the likelihood of Notre Dame returning to the College Football playoff increases exponentially. The road to a playoff game is going to be difficult for any team with even one loss. No. 1 ranked Clemson has a cakewalk the remainder of the season, with no ranked opponents left on their schedule.

Second ranked Alabama has games remaining against ranked teams such as No.17 Texas A&M, No. 4 LSU and No. 8 Auburn.

After the Notre Dame game, Georgia still has three games against ranked opponents on their schedule, facing No. 9 Florida, Auburn and Texas A&M.

Fourth ranked LSU has four games left against ranked opponents with Florida, Auburn, Alabama and Texas A&M on their schedule.

No. 5 ranked Oklahoma has two games remaining against ranked opponents, facing No.12 Texas and No. 25 TCU.

Sixth ranked Ohio State has three remaining games against ranked opponents left on the schedule, facing Wisconsin and Penn State — both ranked 13th — and 11th ranked Michigan.

Meanwhile, Notre Dame has two ranked opponents left on the schedule after Georgia — No. 11 Michigan and No. 21 Virginia.

In all likelihood, Clemson goes undefeated, the SEC teams beat up on each other and none of them go undefeated, Oklahoma wins out and Ohio State wins out.  If that is the scenario, then Clemson, Oklahoma and Ohio State would be three of the four teams in the playoff.

If the Irish were to lose to Georgia, they are likely going to have to battle out one of the one loss SEC teams for the final playoff position. Irish fans would likely hear the same old “conference championships are important” and “look at how strong the SEC is” comments we have heard for years from pundits aiming to discredit Notre Dame from legitimacy.

The likelihood of a one-loss Irish team making it to the College Football Playoff is very slim. HOWEVER, if the Irish were to defeat Georgia and win out, they would be a virtual lock to make the playoff.

Having a marquee win against a SEC powerhouse would be a major boost for the resume of the Irish.

For many Notre Dame fans, equally as important to the boost in likelihood of getting into the College Football Playoff is the fact that it would allow the Irish to quiet all of the naysayers about the legitimacy of the Notre Dame program.  Irish fans have heard ad nauseam how Notre Dame is the most overrated program in college football. They’ve endured the talking heads constantly critiquing how Notre Dame shouldn’t be considered because they don’t play in a conference championship, strength of schedule be damned.

Irish fans know all too well the claim that Notre Dame always gets blown out when they play “real competition”, followed by the sourcing of the Alabama National Championship game, the Clemson playoff game or the Miami turnover chain game — just to name a few in recent memory.

This is a prime opportunity for the Notre Dame football program to finally thumb their noses at these detractors and show that they are a legitimate perennial powerhouse on the college football stage.  That opportunity excites Irish fans as much as anything, as enduring the beatdowns against the cream of the crop in college football has become tiring.

Winning against a top three program from the juggernaut SEC would infuse a level of excitement and hype around the Irish that we have not seen since the 1988 National Championship team.

The stakes are certainly high for the Irish coming into this weekend’s clash with the Bulldogs. A win won’t guarantee that Notre Dame gets into the playoff, as they will still have plenty of work to do to finish out their remaining schedule, but it will certainly help their cause both now and in the future. It will also give Irish fans much needed credibility against all of those who have bludgeoned them for years about how overrated their beloved team is.

This definitely looks like the biggest game on the schedule for the Irish this year, but it feels like something much bigger than just a big game.