Notre Dame football could rise big-time in next CFP rankings
By Brad Weiss
The Notre Dame football team may be No. 9 in this week’s CFP rankings, but changes could be coming in a big way next week.
The latest CFP rankings were announced on Tuesday night, and as we expected, the Irish only move up one spot to No. 9 overall. This has been an interesting season for the Irish, and one that could get even more interesting, as teams ahead of them continue to fall on a weekly basis.
Looking ahead to this weekend’s slate of games, there are a lot of matchups out there that Irish fans should keep an eye on. As we get closer to conference championship games, teams are going to start knocking each other off, and there is still hope that Notre Dame football will creep back into the discussion for a spot in the College Football Playoff.
Sitting with an 8-1 record, and three very winnable games ahead of them, the Irish are in a much better position than most of the teams they are trailing in this week’s CFP rankings. All the Irish can do is put their head down and win the games in front of them, because an 11-1 Notre Dame football team could be very hard to keep out of the playoff in any given year, especially one where there are few dominant teams.
Notre Dame football could rise in a big way next week in CFP rankings
One quick glance at the game slate for this weekend shows plenty of games that have upset potential, especially to the teams ahead of the Irish. Here are a few that could go Notre Dame’s way when all is said and done this weekend.
- Michigan at Penn State
- Oklahoma at Baylor
- Purdue at Ohio State
- Washington State at Oregon
Even the matchup between Michigan State and Maryland could go either way, as the Terrapins have an outstanding quarterback in Taulia Tagovailoa, who can turn a game on its head at any time. Overall, there is a lot of football left to be played this season, and while some teams have easier sledding than others, nobody is writing Notre Dame football off just yet.
Worst case scenario for the Irish is that they finish the year 11-1, miss out on the College Football Playoff, and end up in a New Year’s Six bowl game. For a team that lost so much talent to the NFL last offseason, and one that has battled adversity all season long, that would have to be a fine achievement.