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Can Notre Dame still make the College Football Playoff?

By Mason Plummer

TAMPA, FL - JANUARY 09: The College Football Playoff logo is seen before the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship Game at Raymond James Stadium on January 9, 2017 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FL - JANUARY 09: The College Football Playoff logo is seen before the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship Game at Raymond James Stadium on January 9, 2017 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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Notre Dame
ATHENS, GEORGIA – SEPTEMBER 21: Ian Book #12 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish looks to throw a second half pass in front of Tramel Walthour #90 of the Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium on September 21, 2019 in Athens, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

The Case for Notre Dame to Miss the College Football Playoff

In a ‘normal’ college football season, a schedule that consists of Georgia, Virginia, USC, Michigan and Stanford is considered a good one that gets you into the playoff with wins in four of those games.

This season, not so much.

Normally with a schedule like that, Notre Dame would have plenty of chances to prove itself after a close loss to No.3 Georgia. Not this season.

Losing to Georgia was not ideal, but it looked good initially — until UGA lost to a bad South Carolina team this past week. Notre Dame needed Georgia to win out this season after losing to them and potentially needed Georgia to knock off Alabama in the SEC Championship. Georgia winning out would make Notre Dame’s loss to them look as good as possible and would create a situation where Notre Dame’s ‘best loss’ may be better than its ‘best win’ in the eyes of the playoff committee.

Most years, all of the teams listed in the first paragraph are ranked, and USC, Michigan and Stanford are anywhere from the top 5-15. At the moment, USC and Stanford and unranked and their programs are both in turmoil, while Michigan has not looked so hot this season but is still ranked at No.16.

Breaking down the top teams on the schedule is necessary because it reduces Notre Dame’s ‘key wins’ substantially. The Irish will be/have been favored in every single game they play this season, other than against Georgia. Notre Dame normally relies on key wins against its rivals, which are normally very solid programs — but that just is not happening this year.

That diminishes your playoff chances greatly.

To stand a chance this season, the Irish needed to go into Athens and beat Georgia. It’s tough, but it’s true. The schedule is just not looking good enough or lining up well for Notre Dame to make a real run at the playoff.

Notre Dame will need to root for chaos and I will get into what chaos is needed, but with 2/3 spots already likely taken by Alabama, Clemson and Oklahoma/Ohio State, it’s going to be tough.

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