What Notre Dame needs to happen today to make College Football Playoff

Notre Dame football has a new head coach and he’s hoping to lead the Irish to the College Football Playoff. They just need some help to get there.

Notre Dame may have lost head coach Brian Kelly in a shock move to LSU, but the Irish still have postseason dreams within reach.

New head coach Marcus Freeman and his team will be watching the college football action on Saturday with bated breath hoping the results go their way.

Where do things stand now and what do the Irish need to make it into the Top 4?

CFB rankings going into Championship Weekend

1. Georgia
2. Michigan
3. Alabama
4. Cincinnati
5. Oklahoma State
6. Notre Dame

How Notre Dame can make the College Football playoff?

The simplest scenario for Notre Dame is for Georgia to beat Alabama in the SEC Championship Game and one of Michigan, Cincinnati or Oklahoma State to lose their conference title game matchups.

Things get more complicated if Alabama beats Georgia because the Bulldogs are still likely to claim one of the playoff spots even with a loss. That would mean the Irish would need two of Michigan, Cincinnati and Oklahoma State to lose.

Oklahoma State is trailing 21-6 at halftime of the Big 12 Championship Game at the time of publishing and would open a clear path for Notre Dame. ESPN’s College Football Playoff predictor gives Notre Dame a 15 percent boost to make it with a Baylor win.

The Wolverines are playing Iowa in the Big Ten title game. The Bearcats are battling Houston. The Cowboys have a date with Baylor.

Since Notre Dame is idle, they’ll depend on the outcomes of those games and the favor of the College Football Playoff Committee.

This week, the committee acknowledged that they could penalize Notre Dame’s resume because Kelly will not be coaching them. However, promoting Freeman, the defensive coordinator, should keep continuity and help their claim to a playoff place if others ahead of them lose.

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