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Notre Dame

Heather Dinich reveals Notre Dame's path to College Football Playoff after Ohio State loss

IMG_6598by:Nick Kosko•09/27/23•

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(Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports)

There’s still a path for Notre Dame to make the College Football Playoff, according to ESPN’s Heather Dinich.

The Fighting Irish dropped a heartbreaker to Ohio State at home which knocked them out of the top 10. That could’ve been the final nail in the coffin.

But if there’s a will, there’s a way for Notre Dame and Dinich broke down the path, albeit a treacherous one.

“There’s still a path but it’s under pressure,” Dinich said on Get Up.” Look, these guys are in a must-win situation. And the Allstate playoff predictor will tell you that even if they win out, they still have a 30% chance to go to the CFP. But I think that’s a little bit high because even if they do win out and run the table and finish as a one loss team, the bar is higher in the College Football Playoff selection committee meeting room because they don’t have a conference title.”

Dinich continued and mentioned how through four games, the amount of contenders is bigger than usual.

“And this year Greeny, the field is deeper, it’s more wide open,” Dinich said. “We’re talking about Texas, we’re talking about Florida State, who knows who’s going to win the SEC. So they have to think their resume is better than two Power Five conference champions. Not one, but two, in order to finish in the top four. 

“I sat with Marcus Freeman on Monday in his office, he’s trying to get these guys to go and they said forget about the 10 guys on the field. They’re moving on and they gotta beat Duke and they know that this weekend.”

Notre Dame hits the road this weekend at No. 17 Duke and still has to play host to No. 8 USC October 14. Regardless of where the program is as well, Clemson is on the schedule as well and Notre Dame heads there November 4.

“You pick your head up,” Freeman told On3’s Andy Staples. “Don’t be embarrassed. Own the mistakes we made. Attack them, and get back to work. We’re a really good football team that didn’t play well when it mattered the most on Saturday. Great teams play well when it matters the most. You’re never going to be perfect. But when the game is on the line, great teams find a way to execute. And we didn’t. We have to go fix that.”