Notre Dame Football: The Path to the Orange Bowl

The College Football Playoff is off the table for Notre Dame Football, but a New Year’s Six bowl is very much in the cards.

The brutal loss to Michigan last Saturday was a lot for Notre Dame football fans to take in. Many of us had tunnel vision, with the College Football Playoff at the end of that tunnel — especially after watching Oklahoma lose earlier in the day.

Obviously, the loss in Ann Arbor closed that tunnel, and it left many Irish fans in the dark in terms of what to hope for during the rest of the 2019 season.

There are 130 teams that play FBS football. Only four get to the playoff. Missing out on the four-team tournament should not be considered a failure.

Getting to a New Years Six Bowl — which would be the Orange Bowl this season — is still very much in the cards for Notre Dame. Those bowls — regardless of how meaningless some people say they are — have value to programs. They are high-profile games against high-profile teams that come with extra practices and plenty of extra eyeballs in terms of recruits.

How do the Irish get to the Orange Bowl from where they are now?

For starters, they need to win out. Notre Dame isn’t getting to the Orange bowl with many more losses. A 10-win Irish team, however, keeps them in contention.

Notre Dame also needs some help.

The Irish get to the Orange Bowl if they are within one win of the qualifying ACC school that would otherwise be in line for the bid. That means they need Clemson to win out and get to the playoff. That would also hand Wake Forest a second loss, which would put them equal to a 10-win Notre Dame should it be the only other game they lose.

Ideally, Notre Dame needs Wake to lose two more games, which would give Notre Dame room for another loss in the event that the Irish are upset from here on out.

Basically, as long as Notre Dame is equal or within one game of the qualifying ACC team, the Orange Bowl can take the Irish. And with ratings involved, that would likely be the case.

To recap: Notre Dame and Clemson need to keep winning, Wake Forest needs to lose one or two more games. If that happens, book your travel plans for South Beach.