Notre Dame has college football playoff path laid out before it

There has been a ton of talk about the Notre Dame football team and whether or not they’re making the playoffs in 2024. While most believe it’s a foregone conclusion, no one has really laid out, until now, just how they might get there.

There is one obstacle in the Fighting Irish’s path and that’s a schedule that isn’t all that difficult. So fans might wonder just how many games Marcus Freeman’s squad can lose before they lose a shot at the playoffs. According to KFord ratings, that picture has crystallized.

Notre Dame football can lose one upset and still make the playoffs

Analyst Kelly Ford has been working this summer to really put the season’s picture together. He’s already made it clear how many games the Notre Dame football team had to win to make the 12-team field.

Now he’s laying out how many games they can lose and still make it. Or at least how many they can afford to lose they really shouldn’t and still make it.

The latest Kford ratings show that the Irish can get one “Mulligan” and still make the playoffs. That might not sound like much but it’s one of the higher tiers. Only Georgia, who can get three mulligans, and Oregon and Alabama (two Mulligans) are higher.

So what exactly is a Mulligan in this scenario? It’s a game where the Irish are favored to win, but end up losing. There’s an interesting twist here too, because if the analyst is using his own ratings, that doesn’t include the season opener against Texas A&M. 

Using Kford ratings, the Irish aren’t favored in their season opener. It’s a pick’em game they can lose. However, that doesn’t give them a ton of leeway the rest of the year. 

Notre Dame football is favored in every other game to varying degrees. That means they can lose to either Florida State or USC, or some other even worse team, but only one of them. 

This also means things could change a bit of Notre Dame beats Texas A&M. It’s possible the Mulligans would be two at that point, though it gets more complicated. Basically the Irish need to go at least 10-2 and if they do, they’re likely in the field.