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Where Notre Dame football ranks in Week 14 College Football Playoff Rankings

IMG_9992by:Tyler Horka•11/28/23•

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Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman looks on during the Notre Dame Blue-Gold Spring Football Game at Notre Dame Stadium on April 22, 2023 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire)

If you’re looking for a numbers-based sign of improvement for head coach Marcus Freeman going from his first year at Notre Dame to his second, here’s one: the Fighting Irish are ranked No. 17 in the Week 14 College Football Playoff rankings. At the same time last year, the Irish were ranked No. 21.

The difference is just one win, and you could make a case that this 9-3 season was more upsetting than last year’s 8-4 campaign considering the differing circumstances that came with one compared to the other, but a better rankings placement is a better rankings placement. Freeman and company will take it.

Notre Dame wrapped up the regular season with a 56-23 victory over Stanford this past Saturday. It was the Irish’s second blowout win in a row going back to Nov. 18’s 45-7 Senior Day romp of Wake Forest. It was the game before that, though, and two others that came before it that will define this Notre Dame season. Losses to Ohio State, Louisville and Clemson will not be lost on Irish fans any time soon.

There is some salvation potentially on the horizon if Notre Dame caps the year with a bowl game victory. The 10-win plateau is a base line for many programs. Former Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly hit it five seasons in a row before he left for LSU. If the Irish face off against Kelly and the Tigers in the Reliaquest Bowl, which is a popular pick less than a week prior to bowl game announcements, then beating that program to get to 10 wins would not be such a bad consolation prize for missing out on the College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six.

LSU is the highest-ranked three-loss team in the country at No. 13. Arizona is the only other three-loss team ranked ahead of Notre Dame at No. 15. A 10-win season could mean a top-15 finish for Notre Dame in the CFP rankings, which would be the the program’s seventh time since the CFP’s inception in 2014.

Week 14 College Football Playoff rankings

  1. Georgia (12-0)
  2. Michigan (12-0)
  3. Washington (12-0)
  4. Florida State (12-0)
  5. Oregon (11-1)
  6. Ohio State (11-1)
  7. Texas (11-1)
  8. Alabama (11-1)
  9. Missouri (10-2)
  10. Penn State (10-2)
  11. Ole Miss (10-2)
  12. Oklahoma (10-2)
  13. LSU (9-3)
  14. Louisville (10-2)
  15. Arizona (9-3)
  16. Iowa (10-2)
  17. Notre Dame (9-3)
  18. Oklahoma State (9-3)
  19. NC State (9-3)
  20. Oregon State (8-4)
  21. Tennessee (8-4)
  22. Tulane (11-1)
  23. Clemson (8-4)
  24. Liberty (12-0)
  25. Kansas State (8-4)

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