Things got a little bit more interesting in the College Football playoff race as some big names lost last week and it gives Notre Dame a fighting chance (no pun intended) to earn a seed and potentially a first round home game. That being said, Notre Dame is now on cusp of making the playoffs despite the Northern Illinois loss, plus one of their wins right now looks a lot better than it did even just a week ago. Call it luck all you want, but now the Irish control their own destiny.
The two biggest names to fall were Alabama and Tennessee in the polls as the Crimson Tide fell all the way to 7 in the AP Top 25 poll as they dropped six places. Tennessee fell to 8 in the same poll, a drop of four slots. While they are still in contention for a playoff spot, those two schools are now in trouble of falling out completely if they lose one more especially considering next week when the two play one another thus making it an elimination game. Then there are the two other schools that fell so far down that helps Notre Dame even more. Missouri had a massive drop by 12 places as they are now 21. Michigan had an even bigger fall as they dropped 14 slots to 24. Those two are effectively eliminated from contention. Then, there is the biggest fall as arch-rival USC fell completely out of the picture going from 11 to not being ranked at all. Sure, they did have some votes for the Top 25 poll, but they are eliminated as well essentially. That is huge for Notre Dame and it helps clear some obstacles for them to earn a seed in the playoffs. The job is not done, but it certainly helps.
Then over the weekend there were games that both helped and hurt their resume, though it is probably isn’t as bad as one might think. Texas A&M absolutely destroyed Missouri 41-10 to jump all the way to 15 in the poll and that was a big win for the Irish in the first game of the year against the Aggie. That victory looks a lot more impressive now than it did a week ago. What may hurt their resume is that Louisville fell out of the rankings completely thus making it not look as impressive of a victory as it once did. That being said, Louisville lost to SMU who is now 25 in the poll and the Cardinals could theoretically get back into the rankings. If Louisville does get back in then it helps Notre Dame’s chances more though if SMU can stay up in the rankings then it could be more helpful.
For the rest of the schedule, it looks pretty “cupcake” for the Irish, but there are some teams to not sleep on. USC falling out doesn’t necessarily mean it will be an easy win as they clearly were thought of highly for a reason. USC could easily pull off an upset and knock Notre Dame out and considering how big of a rivalry it is, the Trojans will be chomping at the bit to pull it off. Both Army and Navy even got some votes for the Top 25, so they will not be as easy. Georgia Tech has already pulled off an upset this season and Virginia is a good candidate to pull one off as well. Florida State has been a massive disappointment, but if their talent collects itself then the Irish will need to be on their toes. If Notre Dame can win the rest of their games in convincing fashion, then a playoff spot is more than probable.
The problem this past weekend is that some other teams made some big jumps ahead of the Irish that makes things even more difficult and a couple of games this week to watch could either help them or make it harder. Ole Miss climbed from 12 to 9, Clemson jumped from 15 to 10, and Iowa State went from 16 to 11 and are in a tie with Notre Dame. The Irish will need to clear those teams if they are wanting a chance at the playoffs are at least a safer bet on making it.
The Texas-Oklahoma game is one to watch this weekend as 18 Oklahoma is primed for an upset of 1 Texas and if the Sooners can win that one it helps the Irish tremendously. Penn State-USC will be another game to watch as if USC can hopefully pull off an upset of 4 Penn State. 8 Tennessee takes on Florida and the Gators will also look to come into Knoxville and take down a vulnerable Volunteers side. 2 Ohio State against 3 Oregon probably won’t move the needle too much in the outcome, but if either team completely dominates then it could make an impact on the rankings. The same could be said about 9 Ole Miss versus 13 LSU. Iowa State will play West Virginia in Morgantown and that will be one to watch as well as the Mountaineers are sneaky good.
This weekend could cause more chaos hopefully and helping Notre Dame more like it did last. First, though, the Irish need to take care of business playing Stanford, but either way the chances of getting a playoff spot and possibly a first round home game are much better than it was a week ago. If things go right for Notre Dame, then teams should be watching out for them. Another loss, then it's time to look at 2025.
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