It’s finally back to a game week and this weekend can’t come soon enough. A whole lot has happened since the Irish shutout South Florida, the SEC race is becoming clearer. The perceived Big XII College Football Playoff contenders Oklahoma and Texas each lost this weekend, for the Sooners that’s two losses in a row.
While the Irish watched the rest of the college football world start to take shape in this ever odd season, it seems like an out of sight, out of mind situation with ESPN’s latest CFP projections. Only one of their 14 experts has Notre Dame in the final four, Ivan Maisel.
Alabama and Clemson were unanimously picked, while Ohio State was close with 13 of the 14. Georgia and Florida received seven and five votes respectively, with BYU also getting a vote.
Both the Bulldogs and Gators won’t have easy roads in the SEC, although if Florida wins their head-to-head matchup, they could be undefeated going into the SEC title game. The Big XII most likely not having a team worthy enough of a playoff selection, and probably the same out west in the Pac-12, the Irish have a prime opportunity.
The schedule still has Clemson as the biggest challenge, but the Irish should be favored in every other contest. The opportunity is there to make an impression. With the Irish facing Florida State in South Bend this weekend, a convincing win should get Brian Kelly’s squad at the front of their minds.