Notre Dame football: Irish control their own destiny in 2022
By Brad Weiss
The Notre Dame football team may have a tough schedule in 2022, but all that means is that they control their destiny this upcoming season.
The Notre Dame football team will certainly be one to watch this upcoming season, as they play in some of the biggest games of the 2022 slate for college football. The Irish were recently ranked at No. 5 overall in the first AP Poll, so there are high expectations for the team in Marcus Freeman’s first season as head coach as well.
For the Irish, the schedule is certainly a tough one, as they take on the preseason No. 2 team in Ohio State to kick off the season, and have a mid-season matchup against No. 4, Clemson. To close their season, they will have to battle it out on the road against USC, the preseason ranked No. 14 team, and a program that many believe will be on the rise under head coach Lincoln Riley.
What this means is that the Irish will have at least three opportunities to prove to the College Football Playoff committee that they belong to one of the final four. Many schools do not get this kind of opportunity to control their destiny, but the Irish do and can make a real statement right out of the gate in 2022.
Notre Dame football has a legitimate CFP chance in 2022
In most seasons, a team has to only lose one game or go undefeated to make the CFP, making conference championships a huge deal to punch their ticket. However, the Irish do not play in a conference, so they have to load up their schedule to include teams that are deemed worthy enough by the committee to include them in the final four.
Playing three preseason top-15 teams, and winning two of them would likely land the Irish in the CFP, especially if USC, Clemson, and Ohio State have dominant seasons. A one-loss Notre Dame football team or even a two-loss team could get the Irish into the big dance.
The party kicks off right away, with the Irish taking on Ohio State in Week 1, so we will get a good indication of this team in a few weeks. If they have a tough loss to Ohio State, and then go on to beat Clemson and USC, they should be fine, but for Freeman and company, it has to be one game at a time.