Notre Dame football and its path to the playoffs: Controlling the narrative

The Notre Dame football team doesn't have a game this week. That means they can focus on whether the playoffs are on the horizon. The first official playoff rankings are due out on Tuesday of next week and the Irish will get a real look at their chances. For now, there’s just a lot of guessing and standing around.

After the Week 2 loss to Northern Illinois, it looked like Notre Dame would be left out of the college football playoff picture. Fast forward to Week 10, and the Irish haven’t lost since the upset, and have been playing some of the best football in the country. They’ve risen back up into the top-10 in both polls.

That certainly seems to make it look as though the Notre Dame football should be a shoo-in. However, just yesterday, ESPN College Football Insider Heather Dinich indicated that the view of the Irish around the country isn’t as glowing as it is from some analysts.

Notre Dame football might not be in

Dinich added that at the moment, it might be Texas A&M that could eventually shove the Irish out of the playoffs. Even if Notre Dame beat the Aggies, they might lose out in the postseason because the team has been good enough to win every game since.

On the other hand the College Football Report has the Notre Dame football team in the category of “controls their own destiny.” All of this debate is moot once Tuesday’s rankings come out. But for now, it’s an edge of your seat situation for fans of the program, the players and the coaches.