Sunday, October 25, 2015

ND's Path to the Playoffs -- Got a Little Clearer!



WOW!

Going into this weekend I felt there were five teams in the way of Notre Dame earning a spot in the College Football Playoff; Baylor, TCU, Utah, Clemson and Florida State.

I'm assuming the Big Ten winner (Ohio State or Michigan State) will get a spot and I still believe the SEC winner (LSU or Alabama) will get one.

So here's where we stand after tonight's games...

I'm quite confident Georgia Tech's win over Florida State (video proof above) takes the Seminoles out of contention for a Playoff spot.  And USC's 42 - 24 win over Utah -- leaves the Notre Dame vs. Stanford winner (assuming ND beats Temple, Pitt, Wake Forest and Boston College) the Pac 12 "nominee" for the College Football Playoff...

That leaves two conferences who currently have teams ahead of Notre Dame in the race for a Playoff spot.  The ACC and Big 12 -- and we need to beat just one of them now for one of the four Playoff positions.


BAYLOR
  • Lost their starting QB today with a neck fracture
  • Still have to play; Oklahoma, @Oklahoma State and @TCU

TCU
  • Still have to play;  @Oklahoma State, @Oklahoma and Baylor

CLEMSON 
  • Florida State

Now, here's where it gets interesting...

What if:
  • Ohio State beats Michigan State
  • Ohio State loses to Michigan
  • Notre Dame wins all of their games -- ND moves ahead of the BIG TEN teams 

What if:
  • LSU beats Alabama
  • LSU loses to Ole Miss or Texas A&M
  • Notre Dame wins all of their games -- ND moves ahead of the SEC teams 

Bottom line -- I believe if we win our remaining five games -- we're heading to the PLAYOFFS!