Notre Dame football: Initial 2021 CFP ranking does Irish no favors
By Brad Weiss
The Notre Dame football team will have a tall mountain to climb after the release of the first CFP rankings, as they came in at No. 10 overall.
On Tuesday night, the first installment of the CFP rankings was announced, and it was no big secret that the Georgia Bulldogs came in at No. 1 overall. For the Notre Dame football team, their initial ranking was just inside the top-10, coming in as the No. 10 team in the rankings, giving them a long road ahead if they want to make a return trip to the CFP.
For the Irish, this is not a big shock, as they do have a solid 7-1 record, but they have had a roller coaster of a season so far. They have some solid wins lately, beating UNC and USC in back-to-back weeks, but the loss to Cincinnati early on looms large, as well as some narrow victories against Florida State, Toledo, and Purdue.
The Bearcats, while ranked No. 2 in the AP Poll, were ranked outside of the top-4, which does not do the Irish any favors, as Cincinnati’s schedule the rest of the way is light as well. Alabama, Michigan State, and Oregon joined the Bulldogs in the top-4, with Ohio State and Cincinnati rounding out the top-6.
Notre Dame football controls their CFP destiny
The good thing for the Irish is that there is a lot of season left, and we have seen teams beat each other up all season long. Every week there seems to be an upset in the top-10, and with conference championships for the SEC and Big Ten on the horizon, you can be sure some of the teams ahead of the Irish will suffer a loss from now until the final rankings are released.
Some of the team ahead of the Irish will play each other, including Michigan State and Ohio State, who battle it out in a few weeks. After the Buckeyes play Michigan State, they play Michigan, who is ahead of Notre Dame as well in the first CFP ranking, so a lot of moving parts are still to come.
Alabama has one loss and should make the SEC title game, where a second loss should knock them out of the top-4.
Of course, it is very early, but this is going to be a tough task for the Irish if they want to be one of the final four teams standing for this year’s College Football Playoff. They have the schedule ahead of them to go undefeated, but they are going to need a lot of help the rest of the way.