The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have been a team of intrigue as it relates to the College Football Playoff. Without a conference to call home, they can’t gain a first-round bye, but after beating the USC Trojans in Week 14, they might be set to land something more important than an automatic quarterfinal bid.
Notre Dame’s Fifth-Seed Path in the College Football Playoffs
After the dust has settled on the Week 14 action, Notre Dame might be in the pound seat in the College Football Playoff. The Fighting Irish hurdled over their final regular season test like Jeremiyah Love hurdling a defender, taking down their bitter rival USC Trojans in ultimately dominant style. The win was sweet; the reward might be even sweeter with a clear playoff path in store.
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The Fighting Irish currently sit as the seventh seed in the College Football Playoff Rankings. However, with the Ohio State Buckeyes defeat to the Michigan Wolverines, they are set to drop from the fifth seed they have occupied throughout the weekly rankings reveal. The Penn State Nittany Lions look likely to move into that slot, but there’s good news here for Notre Dame fans.
Penn State has to face the Oregon Ducks in the Big Ten Championship Game next Saturday night and will do so as a significant underdog. A defeat inside of Lucas Oil Stadium for the Nittany Lions will likely seal the Fighting Irish into the fifth seed, regardless of what happens with any other conference championship games or how defeat in those games is viewed.
But why is that important for Notre Dame? Well, as has been discussed by many people — mainly Big Ten fans who were looking at their conference champion facing a very different challenge than of their projected runner-up — the fifth-seed has a significantly easier journey through the College Football Playoff field than many of the conference champions.
As the fifth seed, Notre Dame will have a home game in South Bend for their first-round matchup. They’ll also host the lowest-seeded team in the 12-team bracket. That projects to be the Big 12 champion Arizona State Sun Devils (although there is plenty more football to play from that conference before the night is out). Theoretically, that’s the easiest of the first-round games.
The reward for the Fighting Irish will then be a neutral-site game against the fourth-seed team. If everything remains as it has for weeks, that will mean a game against the Boise State Broncos. The Mountain West powerhouse boasts Heisman Trophy contender Ashton Jeanty, but if there is a team capable of stopping the dominant rusher, it’s Notre Dame.
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