College Football Playoff: How a 16-team bracket would play out

3. Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. 14. Kentucky Wildcats

The one team that didn’t have to sweat anything out in a conference championship game in regards to their College Football Playoff seeding was the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. As an independent school, they didn’t have a conference title game and, with an undefeated record to their credit in the regular season, they were a lock to make it into the top four.

Of course, many people have said that this Notre Dame team is a bit overrated, despite them having some solid wins on the season. They’ve certainly been up-and-down throughout the season, though they have been much more consistent with Ian Book starting at quarterback after he took over for Brandon Wimbush early in the year. What’s more, their defense is for real.

When you put them in a matchup against this grind-it-out Kentucky Wildcats team in this simulated bracket, the expectation might be that we would see a defensive struggle that results in a low-scoring affair. It wouldn’t be a shootout, to be sure, but my belief is that Notre Dame’s ability to make explosive plays and Kentucky’s lack of ability in that department would ultimately be the deciding factor in this game.

Brian Kelly’s team would get out to an early lead and simply be in a position to hold on to it. This isn’t to say that Kentucky would get embarrassed, but they just don’t have the firepower on offense to compete when playing from behind. As such, Notre Dame would continue the trend of the higher seed advancing out of Round 1.

Prediction: Notre Dame 30, Kentucky 17