Notre Dame Football is eagerly awaiting the first College Football Playoff rankings of the year on Tuesday.
After a disappointing 0-2 start, Notre Dame has rattled off six consecutive wins since. They are the first team since 2020 to accomplish this feat.
They have steadily climbed up the AP and Coaches Poll rankings since falling almost out of the rankings initially. This should bode well ahead of Tuesday. On Sunday, Notre Dame received some more good news, moving up in both polls.
Notre Dame Moves Into Top 10 of both AP and Coaches Polls
Notre Dame checked in at number 10 in both polls, marking the first time they have been ranked as high since the loss to Texas A&M.
Notre Dame did receive some help this past weekend, as they leapfrogged Miami, Vanderbilt, and Georgia Tech, all of whom lost. BYU and Texas Tech did remain just ahead of the Irish, coming in at 8th and 9th, respectively.
This should be really encouraging for Irish fans. As long as Notre Dame continues to win, they should continue to climb. Ideally, Notre Dame will finish within the top 8 teams, avoiding any chaos with Championship games in conference play at the end of the year.
First CFP Rankings Debut Tuesday
Now, neither the AP nor the Coaches Poll determines the College Football Playoff seeding. That will be determined by the committee after the end of the regular season.
The first official rankings come out this Tuesday, and that will be the new number next to Notre Dame's name ahead of this week's game vs Navy.
Historically, the CFP rankings do closely mimic the AP and Coaches Poll. In addition, the committee did explain that this year they would pay closer attention to advanced metrics such as Strength of Schedule, Strength of Record, and FPI- ESPN's Football Power Index.
This also helps Notre Dame, as they are currently ranked 5th in FPI, 5th in Strength of Schedule, 13th in Game Control ranking, and 15th in Strength of Record.
Assuming that this holds going into Tuesday, Notre Dame should expect to see itself in the top 12 of the playoff format, suggesting a path to the playoffs.
Still Work Left To Do for Notre Dame
Despite these encouraging metrics and rankings, Notre Dame definitely has work left to do. They still have a competitive schedule down the stretch, featuring 7-1 Navy this week and 6-2 Pittsburgh, who may be ranked after that. They end with Syracuse and Stanford. They boast a 65% chance of winning out, by far the highest in the nation.
However, despite a solid ranking and metrics, Notre Dame only has a 23% chance to make the playoff according to ESPN FPI and Playoff Predictor. Most of this is due to SEC and Big 10 teams having good chances to finish 11-1 or 10-2. In that case, many would be slotted ahead of Notre Dame.
Notre Dame just needs to win out. With each week, those chances will improve, and their ranking will improve as well. Tuesday night will be telling in terms of Notre Dame's Playoff chances.