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Newsstand: Where Notre Dame stands in updated College Football Playoff Bracketology per ESPN

Singer headshotby:Mike Singer•10/15/24•

MikeTSinger

Notre Dame HC Marcus Freeman
MICHAEL CLUBB | SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE | USA TODAY NETWORK

Don’t concern yourselves about the AP Top 25 Poll, Notre Dame fans. The College Football Playoff committee’s rankings are all that matters.

We won’t get that for a few more weeks, though. Bracketology is released by different websites weekly to give a gauge on where things stand. And despite Notre Dame having a bad loss to Northern Illinois on its schedule, Marcus Freeman’s program is primed to make a run to the College Football Playoff. Now granted, the Irish’s hopes to reach it — and win a game or two — took a hit when Freeman announced that All-American cornerback Benjamin Morrison would be out for the season on Monday.

ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura has the Irish sneaking into the CFP as the No. 12 seed and facing the Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus, Ohio. Bonagura has Notre Dame going out in the first round.

And ESPN’s Mark Schlabach‘s projection lists the Irish getting into the playoff as the No. 11 seed and going to Athens, Ga. to face the Georgia Bulldogs. And yes, Schlabach also has Notre Dame falling in the first round.

We’ll see where Notre Dame ranks in the CFB Committee’s eyes in a few weeks, but it does seem that if the Irish win out, then they’ll have a top 10 seed and very well could host a playoff game. But if ND drops another game, it’s hard to see the Irish getting into the playoff.

See the full playoff prediction here.

Notre Dame tweets of the day

Quote of the day

“I think every week my message can be tailored to the opponent or where we are. I think it’s important that our guys have an idea of the environment we’re going in. I don’t want any surprises. I wanted them to know exactly what it would be like going into College Station, exactly what it would be like going into West Lafayette and what it’s gong to be like going into the Mercedes-Benz Dome to play Georgia Tech. 

“I think that’s so important that they have a visual representation of where they’re going so they don’t spend time looking around wasting time ‘where’s my family, where’s our sideline?’ Often when I’m there, I remind them we’ve been there before. Hopefully it’s a mindset that they’re comfortable with the environment we’re going to.”

— Irish head coach Marcus Freeman on if his message is different when Notre Dame goes on the road

Headlines of the day

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