As the 2024 college football season heads into its final stretch, the Notre Dame football team is gearing up for a crucial Week 13, looking to secure a spot in the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff system. Notre Dame currently controls their own destiny and sits at the eight seed after the latest College Football rankings.
While if Notre Dame wins out, they will be in, it is still noted for Irish fans to root for some chaos to secure the Irish a home game in round one of the playoffs. Below are the key games and teams that the Irish should be rooting for in week 13.
Who Notre Dame football fans should root for in Week 13
No. 5 Indiana at No. 2 Ohio State
The storyline no one expected is the Indiana Hoosiers starting 10-0. The Hoosiers' strength of schedule is ranked 106, and their best win is against a disappointing 5-5 Michigan team. Indiana now will have their biggest and only test of the year as they travel to Columbus to face the no. 2 team in the country in Ohio State. Irish fans should be rooting for a win from Ohio State in my opinion. The reason I say this is because if Hoosiers win, I don’t see Ohio State dropping too far, and I would rather the Notre Dame football team potentially play Indiana in the first round than Ohio State.
If Indiana loses by 17+ or doesn’t pass the eye test I can see the committee dropping them out of the playoffs but if Indiana is competitive and let’s just say covers the 13.5, I think they could potentially stay in the playoffs depending on the SEC and their chaos.
Florida vs No. 9 Ole Miss
The SEC chaos is incoming, and Ole Miss is in the middle of it. The Rebels are coming off a bye week where the week before they put on a dominant performance over the Georgia Bulldogs. Irish fans should be rooting for the Florida Gators who just officially eliminated Brian Kelly and his LSU Tigers. A Florida win would put Ole Miss on the outside looking in and eliminate another SEC team, allowing the Irish to not only feel more comfortable to get in but to host a playoff game. The Gators are currently a +10.5 underdog against Ole Miss but have been playing better as of recent. This game will kick off at noon ET.
No. 15 Texas A&M at Auburn
The Aggies currently control their own destiny in making the SEC championship game. While many fans are jumping ahead and focusing on the last game of season where the No.3 ranked Texas Longhorns will travel to College Station to face Texas A&M, the Aggies have what looks like could be a spoiler game. Texas A&M will travel to Jordan-Hare Stadium and face Auburn and are currently just a 2.5 point favorite. Irish fans want Texas A&M to win out so their opening win at Texas A&M looks better and better. Kickoff will be at 7:30 pm ET.
All Big 12 Upsets
Where most College Football fans are almost positive that the Big 12 will only get one team in, it is always better to be safe than sorry. I think Irish fans should be rooting for No. 21 ranked Arizona State to upset No. 14 BYU and the Kansas Jayhawks to upset No. 16 Colorado Buffaloes. The more chaos in the Big 12, the better for Fighting Irish fans. While I am looking a little too far ahead here, but I would rather play Arizona State or Iowa State in playoffs rather than Colorado. So, a Jayhawk upset would make Colorado no longer control their own destiny, and the Buffs would need both Arizona State and Iowa State to lose at least one game or BYU to lose its last two games to make it to the Big 12 championship game.
Notre Dame Football resume booster games
Virginia vs SMU, noon ET
Stanford at Cal, 3:30 pm ET
Louisville vs Pitt, 4 pm ET
USC at UCLA, 10:30 pm ET
Fighting Irish fans should be rooting for all the teams that are or were on their schedule. Louisville beating Pitt would boost the Irish's win over them and make the Cardinal an 8-win team. Stanford could win out, be a 5-7 squad, with a long shot bowl game. The more Cardinal wins the better for Irish fans. USC at UCLA is a night game and the Trojans are currently .500 with a 5-5 record. Irish fans should root for Trojans to win so they can clinch bowl eligibility and then if Irish were to win the last game over USC the Trojans would sit at 6-6 rather than 5-7 and potentially miss a bowl game. Lastly, Virginia will host SMU at noon.
This is a stretch, but a Cavaliers win would not only help the Notre Dame football resume but would also make SMU have two losses and would 100% confirm that the ACC will only get one team in the playoffs. Also, if UVA was to win they would pick up their sixth win and be another bowl team on the Blue and Gold's schedule.