Saturday was good enough because the Notre Dame football team managed to absolutely bury a Navy program that plenty of talking heads thought would give the Fighting Irish a run for their money. However, that was just the main course. The desert was the chaos in the Big 12 and the ACC that likely opened the door a little wider for Marcus Freeman's squad to enter the College Football Playoffs.
Before the Irish finished off the Midshipmen, quite a few teams that might have spent the rest of the season doing battle with the Blue and Gold for a playoff berth saw their seasons get upended. Especially in the ACC.
Notre Dame football gets some CFP help from Saturday's ACC madness
First, there was the Virginia Cavaliers, who were always a surprise playoff contender. Ranked No. 14 in the first CFP rankings, the Cavs were four spots behind the Irish. But there's always that worry that things could shift. However, their loss to Wake Forest on Saturday night likely takes them out of an at-large bid.
Then there's Louisville, ranked No. 15 and even further back from Notre Dame; it's still the same story in the ACC. Rack up a couple of wins, perhaps the Irish look less than impressive in their final games, and suddenly it's a concern. Not after the Cards lost to California, at home on Saturday.
Over in the Big 12, BYU, which was the No. 7 team in the first CFP rankings, was absolutely shellacked by No. 8 Texas Tech, 29-7. That loss won't hurt the cougars as much as the Cards or Cavs' loss, but it should slide the second Big 12 team behind Notre Dame in the rankings, giving the Irish a bit more breathing room.
There's still a lot that can happen between now and the end of the season. However, it can't be denied that the chances of the ACC or the Big 12 or both not getting two teams in help Notre Dame. Because of where the season is on the calendar, the Irish need to take care of business, and then do a little scoreboard watching after the fact.