Some people think that Notre Dame should be thanking their lucky stars that the Fighting Irish are in the field of the College Football Playoff after losing their first two games of the season. Notre Dame fans know that because the Fighting Irish lost to two-ranked teams, one of whom is undefeated still this season, they were able to afford those losses.
Ever since losing those games, however, Notre Dame has been in complete survival mode, practically acting like every game is a playoff game. If the Fighting Irish drop one more game, they can kiss their spot in the CFP goodbye.
Now, Notre Dame did itself a favor by winning so big against a ranked Pitt team, on their own turf, might we add. The selection committee could very well reward the Fighting Irish for that, but some other teams behind Notre Dame, who have the same number of losses, could leapfrog them.
Oklahoma vs. Alabama outcome will decide Notre Dame's CFP ranking this week
The good news is that Alabama suffered its second loss of the season on Saturday when the Oklahoma Sooners took them down in Tuscaloosa. That means that Alabama now has a loss against a ranked team and a loss against a fallen Florida State team.
This loss gives the Crimson Tide the same number of losses as the Fighting Irish, which means the selection committee could feel more inclined to rank Notre Dame over Alabama. The downside to this is that Oklahoma, a team that has been lurking behind Notre Dame since the rankings came out, could jump the Fighting Irish in the rankings.
Last week, Notre Dame came in at No. 9 while Oklahoma was just outside the field at No. 11, as there would need to be two conference champions added to the mix, effectively taking out the No. 11 and No. 12 teams.
With Texas losing, that helps Oklahoma jump into the field, but beating the No. 4 team has perks and will come with a higher ranking, maybe even higher than Notre Dame. There are still two weeks of the regular season left, and both Oklahoma and Notre Dame face two unranked teams to close it out.
One more loss for either team takes them out of the CFP running, but winning both would have the committee making a tough decision, and it could even decide who gets home-field advantage and who has to go on the road.