The tide turns as Notre Dame football becomes most likely to finish undefeated

Remember when people thought the Notre Dame football team was going to lose to Texas A&M? When all the analysts lined up to talk about “maybe” the Fighting Irish would make the playoffs? But if they do, they will lose in the first round.

Then the Texas A&M game happened. While it wasn’t the emphatic victory predicted by one analyst score-wise, it was a statement win for Marcus Freeman’s squad. It was a game where the Irish defense dominated like it was supposed to and the offensive line wore the Aggies’ front down as the game went on.

It was the game where the Notre Dame football leaders stepped up and carried the program to a 23-31 victory. And now, all of a sudden, Freeman’s squad is getting quite a bit of love. And not just from talking heads, but from analytics as well.

According to the latest edition of ESPN’s FPI ratings, the Golden Domers now have the best chance of any team in the country to go undefeated in the regular season. And it’s not really close.

Notre Dame football odds on to go undefeated

The ESPN FPI gives the Blue and Gold a 22.4 percent chance to get through the rest of the regular season schedule without a loss. That’s not a big surprise considering that the team that was supposed to be their toughest opponent this season is currently trying to figure out how to even win a conference game.

Florida State entered the year as the No. 10 team in the country. They are currently 0-2 after losing decisively to Boston College on Monday night. That follows their Week 0 loss to Georgia Tech.

It’s not just that Notre Dame has the best chance at an undefeated season. It’s that no team is really close. Penn State comes in with the next high probability at 12.4 percent. Then It’s Georgia at 10.3 percent, then Ohio State (10.1), and Texas (8.8) round out the five highest probability teams.

Should Notre Dame football go 12-0, they would undoubtedly earn the No. 5 seed in the playoffs. That’s the highest seed they can get as an independent. And while that doesn’t sound ideal, it would mean a home playoff game against the No. 12 seed and a chance to take on the No. 4 seed in the next round. I’ll take that every day.