After Notre Dame walloped Stanford last week, they have to keep going about their business and take care of Georgia Tech this week. Every win the Irish earn the better their chances are at a playoff spot. However, they’ll also need help every week and this column looks at the games to be on the watch out for as things are getting more and more interesting in the College Football landscape. Here are the matchups to keep an eye on for if Notre Dame are to have a chance at the playoffs.
Miami vs Louisville
Miami is ranked 6 in the AP Top 25 Poll, so this would help tremendously in two different ways for the Irish. The first way is that it would be a major upset for Louisville to win this game thus taking Miami out of the top 10 (maybe all together). Another loss to a top 10 side breaks things wide open and gives Notre Dame a chance to slide back in. The second way it helps the Irish is that it helps their resume a lot as their win over Louisville will look a lot more impressive. Some might take it as Miami actually looked like frauds this entire time considering their weak schedule thus far and overall, but that might be more of a sports talk topic than anything else.
Virginia vs Clemson
Essentially this would be the same exact deal as Miami-Louisville. While Notre Dame has yet to face Virginia, it could help bolster the profile of their matchup later in the season especially if Virginia wins against Clemson. Clemson is ranked 10, but a lot of pundits believe that they are actually pretty underrated. If Virginia was to win and if Louisville does the same this week, it would be chaos, but of course fun chaos. That being said, it’s hard to see Clemson losing here.
Alabama vs Tennessee
As highlighted in last week’s column, this game is essentially an elimination matchup. It would be really difficult to justify having one of these sides with two losses making the playoffs unless more chaos ensues (which would actually be quite interesting even if unlikely). Even though Alabama is 7 and Tennessee is 11, whoever loses this one would instantly be jumped over by Notre Dame (albeit if the Irish actually win). Another loss for one of these teams essentially disqualifies them from the SEC championship which would make it even harder for them to make the playoffs.
LSU vs Arkansas
LSU is coming off a big win and are riding high, but are they really for real? Yes, Ole Miss is a good team, but them falling all the way down to 18 is a big drop-off considering they were 9 and LSU was 13 at the time of game. It might suggest Ole Miss was overrated. Then there is the loss LSU suffered earlier in the season to USC who is now not even ranked, plus the soft schedule they've had thus far in the season including a narrow win over South Carolina. LSU coming in 8 might be overrating them, which comes to the next point: is Arkansas underrated? Arkansas has already beaten Tennessee when Tennessee was at 4 and this game against LSU is right there for the pickin’. Another Arkansas victory against a top 10 side not only will cause more chaos, but might actually boost their profile for a Top 25 spot.
Georgia vs Texas
The biggest game of the Saturday slate as two top 5 sides go toe-to-toe, however, the stakes couldn’t be more different for each team. Texas can afford a loss here and probably wouldn’t fall too much in the AP Poll, but Georgia cannot afford it. If Georgia loses, that effectively takes them out of the playoff hunt as the same reasons for if either Alabama or Tennessee loses. The only thing Texas has at stake to lose is being the number one side in the country. With Texas still being undefeated, a loss here would look “forgivable” come the committee making their selections for the playoffs.
It's simple enough, win out and Notre Dame probably gets a playoff spot. This weekend has the potential to be huge for the Irish's playoff chances as described above. Taking care of their own business is what Notre Dame needs to do and let everything else take care of itself as actually as of this week, the Irish have a chance to make their resume better especially with both Army and Navy entering the top 25 coming up soon. Some of these games this weekend will help Notre Dame if the Irish win, but the hope that chaos ensues, then it's going to make things a lot easier.
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