Now that Notre Dame has been included in the ACC there has been plenty of conjecture on how the Irish’s season will play out. Yesterday, we looked at ESPN and their updated Football Power Index ACC title odds and corresponding impact on the conference race and College Football Playoff odds. Today, Rival’s Mike Farrell and Adam Gorney examined if the Irish could make the CFP now that they’re affiliated with the ACC.
Let’s start with the optimist, Gorney, who think’s the Irish have a very legit possibility to make the CFP. He says that “Notre Dame has all the pieces to make a run to the College Football Playoff – whether it’s with an ACC-only schedule or anything else. The Irish have a veteran quarterback, one of the best offensive lines in the country, defensive playmakers at all three levels and they have excellent coaching as well.” It seems like Gorney liked the Irish’s chances even before joining the ACC for this season.
Farrell, however, didn’t see it like Gorney, as he “could see Notre Dame losing to Louisville, Pitt or North Carolina and ending the season with two losses.” The other loss Farrell is eluding to is the matchup with Clemson, it seems regardless of how Notre Dame schedule played out thought they would lose to the Tigers anyways. Farrell goes further saying “we knew they (Notre Dame) need to be perfect to make the playoffs most likely and with this schedule, I don’t see that happening.”
The two analysts are split on whether or not the Irish can finish inside the final Top 4 teams. With a conference affiliation, this gives the Irish more wiggle room than in previous years where an undefeated season was the only way that Notre Dame could make the final group. The wiggle room is minimal though, as two losses will take any team out of Playoff contention. This is shaping up to be a very interesting 2020 college football campaign and if the Irish can navigate themselves to a 11-1 season with an ACC title, they will punch their ticket into the Final 4.