Marcus Freeman Makes Case for Notre Dame in CFB Playoff Bracket amid Win Streak
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman believes his team is unquestionably one of the 12 best in college football after finishing the regular season at 10-2.
"Who are the best teams now? Not Week 1 — now," he told reporters following Saturday's 49-20 win over Stanford. "It's hard to argue we aren't one of those teams. ... You're talking about a team that is playing as well as anyone right now. Won 10 straight games, all of them by double-digit points."
The Fighting Irish shouldn't be sweating just yet. They were ninth in the last batch of rankings from the College Football Playoff selection committee, so they'd have to fall three spots in order to miss the CFP.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
The highest-ranked Group of Five team is going to claim the No. 12 seed, meaning 11th is effectively the CFP cutoff.
It's hard to see how the committee would drop Notre Dame past that when the Irish comfortably cruised in their finale. They finished with 524 yards and led 35-3 at halftime before Stanford made the contest look closer than it was in garbage time.
Maybe Alabama leapfrogs Notre Dame on the strength of winning the Iron Bowl, but the Crimson Tide didn't exactly blow five-win Auburn away in a 27-20 win.
BYU could move into the Top 10 if it goes on to beat Texas Tech in the Big 12 title game. Should that happen, Notre Dame may only fall to 10th or 11th in the CFP rankings.
And even in a scenario where Alabama wins the SEC championship and BYU is the Big 12 champ, the Fighting Irish can afford to fall two spots.
Miami is the biggest wild card. The Hurricanes have a head-to-head win over the Fighting Irish, and they capped off the regular season with a dominant showing over Pittsburgh.
Still, the committee has consistently put Miami below Notre Dame and shown a general lack of confidence in the Hurricanes' on-field resume. Mario Cristobal's squad is shut out of the ACC title game, too, so it doesn't have any more chances to fortify its CFP case.
Catapulting Miami into the top 11 would be quite an about-face.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
