The Notre Dame football team's stellar season continued on Saturday not just because they won, but because most of the teams they needed to lose in order to get a better College Football Playoff spot lost. It was yet another chaotic weekend that didn't really touch a Fighting Irish team that just keeps taking care of business.
Of course, there is a bit of a glass ceiling for the Fighting Irish. Without being in a conference, the highest Marcus Freeman's squad can get is the No. 5 seed. They're not there yet, but another blowout win should see them move up again.
Meanwhile, several bad losses for the SEC has changed the bottom of the College Football Playoffs bracket considerably.
Week 13 College Football Playoff prediction: Notre Dame solidifies standings
Rank | Team | Why Are They Here |
|---|---|---|
1 | Oregon | Big Ten Champ |
2 | Texas | SEC Champ |
3 | Miami | ACC Champ |
4 | Boise State | Mountain West Champ |
5 | Ohio State | At Large |
6 | Notre Dame | At Large |
7 | Penn State | At Large |
8 | Tennessee | At Large |
9 | Georgia | At Large |
10 | SMU | At Large |
11 | Indiana | At Large |
12 | Arizona State | At Large |
Should this particular bracket come to be, it would see the Notre Dame football team jump up two spots in the bracket. Not a lot changes besides the fact that the Irish would host a lower seed than last week.
Freeman's crew were slated to meet up with Alabama in South Bend but now, should this prediction hold, it would be an All-Indiana first round matchup. The Hoosiers fell quite a ways after their blowout loss to Ohio State, but stayed in the field and with the No. 11 seed, they'd be Notre Dame's matchup.
While that might be an easier showdown for the Notre Dame football team, it does take a bit of luster of out things that the College Football Playoffs world won't see an SEC team having to go into a cold weather stadium. At least not South Bend.