Nick Saban 'Bets' Pat McAfee Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame Will Win Out, Make CFP Bracket
Despite already having one loss to a ranked opponent and facing another top-25 team on Saturday, Nick Saban has a lot of confidence in Notre Dame's ability to make the College Football Playoff.
On Saturday's episode of College GameDay, Saban made a friendly wager with Pat McAfee that the Fighting Irish will win out and be one of the 12 teams in the playoff field.
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Official terms of the wager were not set, though McAfee did attempt to negotiate for a Ferrari or Mercedes-Benz from Saban.
Saturday's showdown with Texas A&M could be the game that determines Notre Dame's season. The Fighting Irish lost some of their wiggle room with a 27-24 loss to Miami on Aug. 31.
That was a difficult spot for Notre Dame to open the season with a road game against a top-10 team. The loss only dropped it two spots in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, from sixth to eighth.
After having last week off, Marcus Freeman will have his team back in action for their first home game of 2025. They will take on No. 16 Texas A&M at Notre Dame Stadium.
This is a rematch of the 2024 opener for both teams that Notre Dame won 23-13 at Kyle Field. The Aggies are off to a 2-0 start, but their wins are over UTSA and Utah State.
Losing to Texas A&M would drop Notre Dame to 0-2 in a season since Freeman's first year as head coach in 2022.
A victory on Saturday would have the Fighting Irish set up to run the table. They don't have another ranked opponent on their schedule after this week.
Two losses didn't necessarily eliminate a team from playoff contention last year. Eight of the 12 teams that made the field had at least two losses, with a three-loss Alabama team viewed as a snub after just missing out despite being ranked 11th in the final playoff rankings.
However, losing to the two best opponents on its schedule would make it difficult for Notre Dame to build a compelling resume unless there's a significant lack of depth at the top of the rankings by the end of the regular season.
