Notre Dame football: Are Irish ranked too low in latest ESPN FPI ranking?
By Brad Weiss
The Notre Dame football team is ranked in the top-10 of the latest ESPN FPI ranking, but are they actually ranked too low heading into 2021?
The 2021 version of Notre Dame football certainly has its fair share of question marks, as they are replacing a ton of talent on both sides of the ball. However, they have shown this spring that they have a bunch of solid players returning, including some All-Americans, so there is no reason why they won’t be back in the mix for a CFP appearance again this season.
Recently, ESPN admitted to issues with their FPI rankings, and they put out a brand new list. The Irish came out as the No. 8 team in the country according to their new calculations, a ranking that seems a bit too low. Notre Dame is behind the likes of Texas A&M and Texas in the latest ranking, and going into the 2021 season, they have more to prove than Notre Dame does.
Despite so much talent to the NFL, Notre Dame has an elite running back and tight end, as well as arguably the best defensive back in the country in Kyle Hamilton. They also have multiple All-Americans along the offensive line and a defense that is loaded with talent on all three levels.
When you combine this amount of talent, with an elite coaching staff, you have to think the Irish are going to be a mainstay in the CFP conversation for the foreseeable future.
Notre Dame football given sixth-best chance at CFP
One interesting wrinkle to the latest FPI ranking is the chances of each team to actually make it to the College Football Playoff. While the Irish are ranked at No. 8 overall, when it comes to making it back to the playoff, they are slated as the No. 6 team in the country, posting a 23 percent chance of making their third trip in the last four years.
They actually have a higher percentage of making the playoff than both Texas A&M and Texas, and come in right behind Georgia as the two teams on the bubble. The ranking gives Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, and Oklahoma better than a 50 percent chance of making the CFP, with Clemson leading the way at 78 percent.
There are certainly some tough games on the schedule, including Cincinnati, which will be defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman‘s first crack at his old school. For the Irish, they have the talent to make another run towards the CFP, but after losing 14 players to the NFL, it is clear to see that the national media have their doubts.