Not too long ago, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish looked like a near lock for the College Football Playoff despite their two early-season losses. However, with how things currently stand that is no longer the case.
With there now being two automatic conference championship bid-stealers and Notre Dame falling to No. 10 behind Alabama in the latest CFP rankings, the Irish will be sweating to make the 12-team field. Fox’s Joel Klatt even went as far as to say that he doesn’t see any path for Notre Dame to remain in the playoff field after Saturday. With that in mind, let’s take a look at who Notre Dame should be rooting for during conference championship weekend if they want to make it into the College Football Playoff.
BYU over Texas Tech
BYU currently sits one spot behind Notre Dame, and a Big 12 championship win would bump the Cougars ahead of the Irish and they would obviously receive an automatic conference champion bid. I highly doubt Texas Tech would fall all the way behind Notre Dame, so a Red Raider loss would likely knock the Irish out of the field.
Georgia over Alabama in a blowout
As mentioned, Alabama jumped the Irish in the latest CFP rankings. The Tide sit at 10-2 and even with a loss here, we saw last year that the committee didn’t punish SMU for losing its conference championship. It’s also important to note that Alabama already has a win over Georgia this season, which could play into the committee’s decision making. With that said, Irish fans should be hoping for a blowout in the SEC Championship where Georgia dominates Alabama from start to finish.
Boise State over UNLV
This may seem far-fetched, but this is the one possible spot where the long-running debate between Notre Dame and Miami could come into play. While the Irish are still ranked ahead of the Hurricanes, Miami has been climbing each week and of course, have the head-to-head win. If the committee is looking for a reason to finally flip the two teams, they could try to pull something from this game, though it would be some wild reasoning.
Notre Dame beat Boise State earlier in the season, so if the Broncos were to lose the Mountain West Championship, especially in embarrassing fashion, the committee could argue that it weakens the Irish resume. On the other hand, if Boise State wins, that gives Notre Dame a victory over a conference champion. That is something Miami won’t be able to match, as the Hurricanes didn’t play Virginia or Duke who are meeting in the ACC Championship.