Notre Dame entered the bye week ranked 12th in the Associated Press rankings, and the Irish are in position to make a run at the College Football Playoff. Obviously the 5-2 Fighting Irish have work to do, but with two weekends of games still to be played before the first playoff rankings come out, the Irish are in great position to make another run to the postseason.
In the latest Irish Breakdown episode we broke down the playoff resume, discussed why we believe Notre Dame is a lock for the playoff if they win out and which games to keep an eye on this weekend.
You can watch that full show here:
Notre Dame has a bit of a different resume than it did at this time a season ago, but that is true for many teams in college football. The Irish are 5-2, compared to 6-1 at this same time a season ago. Despite having one more loss, Notre Dame was ranked No. 12 in the week 9 Associated Press Poll, which is the same ranking it has in week 9 in 2025. Notre Dame rose all the way up to No. 5 in the rankings last season, and they can make a similar rise this season.
The reason is the chaos that happened last season has already started. A year ago at this time there were nine teams in the Top 25 that were undefeated and 13 teams that had just one loss. That's why a 1-loss Notre Dame team ranked 12th in the rankings. There were five undefeated teams ahead of them. In 2025, there are just five undefeated teams in the Top 25 after week nine. There were just three 2-loss teams in the Top 25 a season ago, with Alabama ranking highest at 15th. There are already seven teams with 2 losses in the Top 25 through week 9 in 2025, with Notre Dame ranking highest at No. 12.
When you look at upcoming games over the next six weeks you'll realize that a lot more chaos is coming.
The computer rankings are also very, very high on Notre Dame, which will help the Irish when the playoff rankings come out. The Sagarin rankings have the Irish ranked 3rd, the Football Power Index at ESPN has the Irish ranked 5th, the Fremeau Efficiency Index has the Irish ranked 6th, the SP+ at ESPN has the Irish ranked 6th and the Massey Ratings have the Irish ranked 7th. All but the Massey ratings have the Irish ranked ahead of both Texas A&M and Miami, while Massey has the Irish ahead of Miami.
As Notre Dame keeps winning, and other teams catch more losses, the Irish are going to climb up the polls and will have a great shot at being inside the Top 12 when the first playoff rankings come out the Tuesday after the Irish take on Boston College. Notre Dame ranked 10th in the initial CFP rankings a season ago, and I'll be surprised if the Irish are lower than that when this season's first rankings are released.
This is all way I'm quite confident that if Notre Dame wins out and keeps winning in the impressive fashion it has this season it will not only make the College Football Playoff, the Irish have a great chance to host a playoff game. Remember, if last season's playoff had the straight seeding we see this season both Ohio State and Tennessee would have hosted playoff games despite having two losses.
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