Notre Dame football: Has the Fighting Irish already clinched a College Football Playoff berth?

Notre Dame football can feel great about making the playoff for the second time in three years.

Notre Dame football should make the College Football Playoff at regular-season’s end.

Even though the Notre Dame Fighting Irish had a great program under Brian Kelly, it was going to be interesting to see how the Golden Domers would do playing a 10-game ACC schedule in the midst of a global pandemic. Well, the Irish are 9-0 overall and 8-0 in ACC play in this one-of-a-kind season. What are the chances the Irish have already clinched a College Football Playoff berth?

Undefeated heading into the ACC Championship game means the Irish get in

Before the ACC Championship game against presumably the Clemson Tigers in a rematch in Charlotte, the Irish have two more conference games left on the schedule: Home vs. the Syracuse Orange on Saturday and at the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on Dec. 12. Though Notre Dame will be a massive favorite over the Orange, the Wake Forest game could be a tricky one for the Irish.

Assuming Notre Dame gets past Syracuse and Wake Forest, the Irish will have clinched a berth for the College Football Playoff before even playing Clemson again. If Notre Dame were to beat Clemson a second time, the Irish would have a shot at the No. 1 seed, depending on how the SEC Championship game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Florida Gators shakes out.

Though Notre Dame could definitely beat Clemson twice this year and knock the Tigers entirely out of the playoff picture, most people expect Clemson to win the rematch on a neutral site in Charlotte. Even if the Golden Domers drop this game to fall to 11-1 on the year as ACC runners-up, their resume should be compelling enough to get the No. 4 seed as one-loss, at-large team.

Simply put, Notre Dame makes the College Football Playoff for the second time in three years as long as the Irish take care of business at home vs. Syracuse and avoids being upset on the road vs. Wake Forest. If they can get to Charlotte at 11-0 overall and 10-0 in ACC play, the result in the second Clemson game will not matter, as the Irish are getting in no matter what happens.

Two more conference wins and you can book the Irish into the College Football Playoff.

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