Notre Dame Football: 5 reasons Irish can still make College Football Playoff

1. Teams in front of the Irish have little room for error

Assuming the Irish finish out the season strong against Navy and Stanford, there will be cause for at least some optimism as Notre Dame turns to scoreboard-watching. With the AP poll as a guide, here are the teams ahead of Notre Dame and who they will be facing prior to championship weekend:

• No. 1 Alabama (10-0)
  • Week 12 vs. Mercer
  • Week 13 @ Auburn
• No. 2 Miami (9-0)
  • Week 12 vs. Virginia
  • Week 13 @ Pittsburgh
• No. 3 Oklahoma (9-1)
  • Week 12 @ Kansas
  • Week 13 vs. West Virginia
• No. 4 Clemson (9-1)
  • Week 12 vs. Citadel
  • Week 13 @ South Carolina
• No. 5 Wisconsin (10-0)
  • Week 12 vs. Michigan
  • Week 13 @ Minnesota
• No. 6 Auburn (8-2)
  • Week 12 vs. LA Monroe
  • Week 13 vs. Alabama
• No. 7 Georgia (9-1)
  • Week 12 vs. Kentucky
  • Week 13 @ Georgia Tech
• No. 8 Ohio State (8-2)
  • Week 12 vs. Illinois
  • Week 13 @ Michigan

I see six teams (Oklahoma, Clemson, Wisconsin, Auburn, Georgia, and Ohio State) dropping behind the Irish with one loss and the other two teams (Alabama and Miami) needing two losses to fall behind. With many of those scenarios unlikely due to the remaining schedules of most of these teams, Notre Dame will certainly need a lot of help.

However, the poor schedules that many of these teams will enjoy allow for an extremely small margin of error. One loss from most of those teams will be enough to jettison them from the top 10, with the exception of Alabama and Miami. In addition, championship weekend will bring a whole other element of confusion into the equation.

Next: Projected Week 12 CFB Playoff Rankings

Notre Dame’s path back to the College Football Playoff is an unlikely one, but the nature of college football encourages fans to never give up hope. Besides, who else is in a better position to ask for a little luck than the Irish?