Notre Dame football title hopes takes a tremendous hit on Championship Saturday

Notre Dame football faithful have had their eyes on the fifth seed for many weeks now as it became a possibility late in the season. However, after Longhorn and Nittany Lion losses on Saturday, Irish fans should not be surprised if Texas and Penn State stay in front of Notre Dame and the Irish now fall to the seventh seed.

Texas fell to Georgia in the SEC Championship game 22-19 in OT and Penn State fell to Oregon in the BIG 10 championship 45-37. Once Texas fell to Georgia, Irish fans nightmares began to come true and needed the Ducks to dominate Penn State to kick them out of the top six. However, with a competitive loss in their conference championships, Blue and Gold fans should expect to fall in the rankings.

Notre Dame football case for the fifth seed

However, Irish fans shouldn't put their heads downs and they took care of their business and dominated almost all of their opponents including one conference champ in Army.

While the Irish didn't get what they wanted on Championship Saturday, Notre Dame still has a strong resume for the fifth seed. The Irish won 10 straight games by a combined score of 441-134. Over those 10 games they averaged 44 points and give up around 13 per contest. The Irish defeated four teams when they were ranked and Army who still is ranked and just defeated Tulane in the AAC championship game.

Why Notre Dame has an argument to be ahead of Penn State

Notre Dame and Penn State have two similar opponents in Purdue and USC. The Irish dominated Purdue 66-7 while Penn State won 49-10. Notre Dame beat USC 49-35 while it took the Nittany Lions to beat the Trojans in overtime 33-10. Penn State best win is against Illinois while Notre Dame has wins over Army, Navy, and Texas A&M. Penn State defeated only two teams above .500 and lost to their two main tests this year in Ohio State and Michigan.

Why Notre Dame has an argument to be ahead of Texas

Notre Dame and Texas played one similar opponent this year in Texas A&M and both teams defeated the Aggies by 10. Texas played an easier SEC schedule, and the Irish have one less loss than the Longhorns. While Texas plays in the hardest conference, they only defeated three teams all year over .500, the Irish have seven wins over .500 teams.

Below is Notre Dame vs Texas by the numbers breakdown, on the offense, defense and there resume.

Notre Dame vs Texas vs Penn State offensive breakdown

Notre Dame vs Texas vs Penn State defensive breakdown

Notre Dame vs Texas vs Penn State Resume breakdown