College Football Playoff picture if Clemson loses to Notre Dame

If Clemson football falls to Notre Dame football, the College Football Playoff picture gets weird.

Clemson football losing to Notre Dame football shakes up the College Football Playoff picture.

Though it is possible for the top-seeded Clemson Tigers to succumb to defeat at the hands of the No. 4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, it will be seen as one of the biggest upsets of the 2020 college football season. In an attempt to prepare for the seemingly impossible, let’s try to get our collective minds around the Tigers losing to the Irish. How does this impact the College Football Playoff?

The top four teams remain the same, but the order is what is compelling

Projected top four if Notre Dame beats Clemson

1. Alabama Crimson Tide (6-0)
2. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-0)
3. Ohio State Buckeyes (3-0)
4. Clemson Tigers (7-1)

This new theoretical top four should not come as a surprise to anyone. Even on a bye week, the Alabama Crimson Tide would move up from No. 2 to No. 1. They have been the most consistently dominant team and have high-quality wins over two of the four best teams in the SEC in the No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs and the No. 7 Texas A&M Aggies. Few people would argue for someone else.

The folks that would argue for the top spot would be the Notre Dame faithful. While the Irish will certainly go up with a win over Clemson to get to 7-0, it will have been at home to a backup quarterback in D.J. Uiagalelei. Had it been over Trevor Lawrence, that may have been a different story. What hurts Notre Dame is they do not have another high-quality win, let alone a quality win.

Holding steady at No. 3 would be the Ohio State Buckeyes, assuming they take care of business and dismantle the Rutgers Scarlet Knights to get to 3-0. Ryan Day’s team looks to be a buzz saw in the Midwest. As long as the Buckeyes stay undefeated, they will remain in the top three and would be a candidate to get to the top spot should Alabama or Notre Dame slip up along the way.

Falling down from No. 1 to No. 4 would be Clemson. Even with a road loss in conference play, the Tigers are not out of it. They would fall into the same category of SEC contenders like the Florida Gators, Georgia and Texas A&M. The only difference is either Florida or Georgia will suffer its second loss of the year on Saturday and thus will be eliminated from the playoff conversation.

So who would be the first two teams out, the ones challenging for Clemson for that last spot in? The winner of Florida vs. Georgia down in Jacksonville will come in at No. 5. As for the No. 6 spot, that will go to either Texas A&M, the Cincinnati Bearcats or the BYU Cougars. Cincinnati is the likeliest of the three to be No. 6 next week, though BYU has a huge game vs. No. 21 Boise State.

A Clemson loss at Notre Dame has the Tigers still very much alive in the playoff mix at No. 4.

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