College Football Playoff 2015: How would an eight-team format play out?
By John Buhler
No. 1 Clemson Tigers vs. No. 8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (Peach Bowl)
The top-seeded Clemson Tigers would host the No. 8 seeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Peach Bowl for their National Quarterfinal matchup.
Clemson, the undefeated ACC Champion, would have first dibs to where they would play their neutral site game. Since the Georgia Dome in Atlanta is less than two hours away from campus, the Tigers would opt to host Notre Dame in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl.
Interestingly, these two teams have would have already met before in 2015. Clemson hosted Notre Dame at Death Valley on October 3rd, beating the Irish, 24-20. That was Clemson’s closest scare in 2015 and that was one of only two losses for Notre Dame on their always difficult 12-game schedule.
Normally the loser of the previous game ends up winning the rematch, but since Clemson is the No. 1 team in the country and Notre Dame would just edge out Florida State for the eighth and final College Football Playoff spot, a dynamic Deshaun Watson and an energized Clemson Tigers would prove too much for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish yet again in 2015.
Clemson would advance and play the winner of the No. 4 vs. No. 5 game in the venue of the Tigers’ choice. That would likely be in Miami at the Capital One Orange Bowl.
Prediction: Clemson Tigers 28, Notre Dame Fighting Irish 13
Next: No. 2 Alabama vs. No. 7 Ohio State