Expert reveals the factors considered regarding Notre Dame football playoff berth

The Notre Dame football team will start to really find out its fate when it comes to the playoffs next week. That’s when the first set of rankings will come out. Not the AP or the coaches’ poll but the actual poll that will start telling everyone who will be looking at the 12-team field.

With just a few days left until we see just where the Irish stand with the committee that will decide that field, ESPN’s Heather Dinich, specifically talked about what will go into trying to seed the Fighting Irish as well as determining if they get in at all.

“The head-to-head result earlier in the season is going to be big in the selection committee meeting room,” Dinich told ESPN’s Matt Barie Wednesday on SportsCenter. “But here’s the thing, the conversation about Notre Dame is going to be a much deeper dive in that room than it has been out of it.”

Notre Dame football holding its breath for playoff rankings

“There will be people in that committee meeting room who harp on the fact that Notre Dame’s home loss to Northern Illinois remains the worst loss in the country, as the Huskies are now a four-loss team,” Dinich explained. “But Barie, if Texas A&M loses at South Carolina and has two losses that helps make things easier on the selection committee to put the Irish in.”

It might seem odd that the Irish are competing for a playoff spot with Texas A&M, a team they already beat, but it appears being one of the best SEC teams might allow them to squeak past ND and into the field.

Further, Dinich doesn’t believe the Notre Dame football team will get a high seed, if they get in at all. 

“They looked good against Navy and they do have the head-to-head win against the Aggies. But I expect Notre Dame to be creeping around somewhere 11, 12, 13 in that first ranking,” she concluded.