Despite its shortcoming Saturday against Clemson, Notre Dame has officially qualified for the College Football Playoff for the second time in three seasons.
The CFP committee made the selections official on Sunday as Notre Dame ranked fourth behind Alabama, Clemson, and Ohio State.
That means Notre Dame will be traveling to Dallas to take on No. 1 Alabama in the Rose Bowl/national semi-final on the night of New Year’s Day.
No. 2 Clemson will take on No. 3 Ohio State in the other national semi-final, the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.
Related: 2020-21 College Football Bowl Bid Tracker
Notre Dame finished just ahead of Texas A&M who finished the regular season 8-1 and ranked fifth while two-loss Oklahoma checked in sixth
With the selection, Notre Dame becomes just the fifth program to make a return appearance to the College Football Playoff as only Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, and Oklahoma have also made multiple appearances.