Notre Dame Football: 3 bold predictions for playoff audition vs. Stanford

Notre Dame football (10-1) enters its final game of the regular season against Stanford as the No. 6 team in the latest CFP Rankings.

They are hoping to make a resounding statement against a Pac-12 modern powerhouse, the only problem is Stanford hasn’t been playing like themselves as of late.

The Irish were really hoping Stanford (3-8) would be their historically good selves and could use this game as a really high-quality final stamp on their 2021 resume.

Unfortunately, Stanford is far removed from the team that’s been ranked in the Top 25 for at least one week or more in 11 of the past 12 seasons.

Let’s take a look at three bold predictions for this important final game of the season.

1. Notre Dame will get a big win and help to catapult into playoff

Despite being on the road, WynnBet currently has the Irish as 20-point favorites against Stanford.

If the Irish can win by 20 or more points, I think that gets the committee talking. But, it won’t be enough to get them into the playoffs unless some teams ahead of them lose.

With no conference championship game to help their case, Notre Dame will need to rely on teams ranked ahead of them to get into the playoffs.

The Irish will hope that Georgia can beat Alabama pretty convincingly in the SEC title game and Ohio State to Michigan easily this week.

Those scenarios seem like the road we’re headed on. If Notre Dame gets a big win and has a team or two ahead of them suffer big losses, it might just be enough to get them in the playoff.

If Notre Dame is frozen out of the playoff, will it get them to rethink their status as an Independent?