Notre Dame football: How realistic is the College Football Playoff
The Notre Dame football team was ranked No. 2 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings, but how realistic is it that they get there.
The initial College Football Playoff rankings came out on Tuesday night, and the Notre Dame football team came in ranked second in the country. In front of them is Alabama, while Clemson and Ohio State round out the top four. Just outside, and with a shot to make the Playoff are Texas A&M, Florida, Cincinnati, and Northwestern.
With a little bit of madness, undefeated Oregon or USC could also have a shot.
Sorry BYU, Coastal Carolina, and Marshall, and too bad for the Big 12 as well. Those are the only teams with even a remote shot of making the College Football Playoff as we stand now. The Irish are one of about ten teams that is actively competing for four spots.
You can do the math for yourself, or rely on ESPN, who says Notre Dame has a 59.3% chance to make the Playoff. Those are the third-best odds in the country, behind Alabama and Ohio State. As we come towards the end of the regular season, it is more important to know how Notre Dame can make the Playoff from here, rather than a formula.
Let’s start simply, win out and Notre Dame is in the College Football Playoff. Now, by no means is that going to be easy. After all, North Carolina is explosive, Wake Forest is underrated, and Clemson is likely waiting in the ACC Championship Game.
That will be a motivated Clemson team on a neutral field, with their starting quarterback back under center. In other words, it’s going to be incredibly difficult to beat them twice.
If the Irish lose any of their three regular season games remaining, North Carolina, Syracuse, and Wake Forest, then they must win the ACC Championship Game against Clemson. No two-loss team has ever made the Playoff, and that would set the stage to make the ACC runner-up a two-loss team.
On the other hand, if Notre Dame won out in the regular season, but lost the ACC Championship Game, they could still get in but would need help.
The help would come in the form of total chaos or as a controlled burn.