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What did they get right and what did they get wrong this week?
The College Football Playoff committee released their third set of rankings on Tuesday night as we continue to inch closer to the end of the regular season.
We’re certain that Georgia remained at the top but did Alabama. Oregon, and Ohio State all stay in the same order from two-through-four?
And did Michigan stay ranked ahead of Michigan State a second-straight week?
Here is the latest College Football Playoff rankings that were released on Tuesday night:
It might not be likely but you’re at least able to see a path now.
Oh, and Go @thebadgerswire! Huge Wisconsin fans here.
Notre Dame got through the their road test at Virginia without issue as they steamrolled the shorthanded Cavaliers, 28-3. It wasn’t the prettiest of showings but it worked as the Fighting Irish defense but on a display against freshman quarterback Jay Woolfolk.
Now Notre Dame will sit and wait to see where they check-in with the latest set of College Football rankings as the new ones will be released on Tuesday night.
Related: Notre Dame’s ridiculously successful sports weekend
As long as they don’t fall though (and why would they?) the Irish should be in as good of shape as they could possibly ask for at this point.
Here is our weekly Notre Dame road map to the College Football Playoff this week, courtesy of the prediction machine at FiveThirtyEight:
What will be the biggest changes in the College Football Playoff rankings this week?
Week 11 of college football has come and gone and in its tide it took away an unbeaten Oklahoma team as they fell hard at Baylor. Also with it went No. 11 Texas A&M who fell in their first true road game of the year at Ole Miss while top-20s NC State, Auburn, and Purdue all fell as well. (See it – how the CFP Top 25 fared this weekend)
Related:
Kirk Herbstreit has a new team in his updated top-six
Notre Dame stomps out Virginia – 5 instant takeaways
So what will the third round of the College Football Playoff rankings look like when they’re revealed on Tuesday night?
Here is my best guess as we count down from 25-1:
Who will see the biggest jump and biggest falls in this week’s CFP rankings?
10 weeks of college football have come and gone in 2021 and although plenty of the preseason favorites have played at or close enough to their preseason expectations to be in the thick of the race (looking at you Georgia, Alabama, Oregon, and Ohio State) for the College Football Playoff, several have not (what’s up Clemson, Florida, Iowa State, and plenty of others?)
What will the second week of the College Football Playoff rankings look like after eight ranked teams fell this past weekend?
Kirk Herbstreit shared his new top-six on Sunday and despite ESPN’s College Gameday being at Cincinnati this past weekend for their homecoming game, Herbstreit dropped them from his top-six after he ranked them fifth a week ago.
That’s only one man’s opinion but it seems like Cincinnati was one of the biggest losers of the weekend despite being victorious. With all of that in mind here is my best guess at what the next set of rankings will look like when they’re revealed on Tuesday night:
Would your top six be the same?
Seven weeks of college football have come and gone in a year that has been nothing short of wild. What is still to come remains to be seen but if the first month-and-a-half is any indicator, it’ll be a wild last couple of months.
As he does each week, Kirk Herbstreit has released his top-six teams of the season to date. It’s no surprise that Notre Dame isn’t included as the Irish sit with one loss but how high does the team that blemish came against check in?
Here is how Herbstreit sees the top six:
It may not have been made official but it seems obvious at this point, doesn’t it?
Brian Kelly met the media for his weekly availability on Monday ahead of their trip to Virginia Tech and addressed the biggest question on the mind. of Notre Dame fans this week.
Who is going to be the starting quarterback Saturday?
“We’ll talk to the guys today when they come over, but it’s not any different from what I kind of mentioned to everybody here. We’re going to have one guy and we’re going to let him know that the reps are for him to be the starter, and focus on one guy. We just haven’t gotten a chance to talk to that individual yet. We know exactly who it is.” – Brian Kelly
I feel safe in saying this means Jack Coan won’t be starting. Immediately following the Wisconsin game Kelly was clear that as long as health allowed, Coan was Notre Dame’s starter. If Coan were to be starting at Virginia Tech why wouldn’t Kelly say that, and why would he need to talk to the starting quarterback? Heck, the depth chart Notre Dame released on Monday even listed Coan as the starter.
It’s not official but using process of elimination it seems obvious who the starting quarterback will be at Virginia Tech.
Coan wouldn’t have to be told by Kelly he’s out, and Tyler Buchner took one (too many) snap in the second half as Drew Pyne tried to pull a rabbit out of his hat. It may not be official but connecting a few dots makes it seem that Pyne is going to be handed the keys to the Ferrari this weekend.
Or perhaps the keys to a Geo Metro.
Related:
Don’t overthink things – it’s Drew Pyne time
5 Stars: best and worst of Notre Dame’s home loss to Cincinnati
Cincinnati athletics troll Brian Kelly extra hard after handing Irish home loss
Cincinnati recorded perhaps their biggest win in program history Saturday and took to Twitter to celebrate it over their former head coach.
Through playing youth, high school, and college sports I don’t know how many times I heard a coach say “act like you’ve been there before”.
I really hope that none of those coaches follow the Cincinnati athletic department on Twitter, otherwise Saturday evening was probably very difficult for them whether they’re Notre Dame fans or not.
After beating No. 9 Notre Dame 24-13, No. 7 Cincinnati had a field day with Notre Dame and head coach Brian Kelly on Twitter. It started with a spliced together video of Kelly at Cincinnati that clearly took a good amount of time to research and put together.
Big win for the Bearcats in South Bend!
You heard the man, Cincinnati is the place to be! pic.twitter.com/n5CQq8vBrw
— Cincinnati Bearcats (@GoBEARCATS) October 2, 2021
But the Bearcats weren’t done there. They continued on by giving it right back to the Irish for a tweet the Notre Dame football program put out earlier in the week.
Hey @NDFootball…
We fixed it for you.#Bearcats pic.twitter.com/bqqqDR3eNq— Cincinnati Football (@GoBearcatsFB) October 2, 2021
And they then closed with a polite thank you to Brian Kelly for helping get the Bearcats a game on Notre Dame’s schedule.
Just grateful for this opportunity.
Thank you, @CoachBrianKelly!Final from South Bend.#Bearcats pic.twitter.com/lEqnKjIW72
— Cincinnati Football (@GoBearcatsFB) October 2, 2021
If you want to be upset, go ahead and be. If it’s over nothing of ultimate significance then I hate telling people how to feel or being told by someone how to feel.
They just had their biggest win in program history and put there program seemingly on a level they haven’t been before and it just so happened to come against their former head coach.
The end result is a rough one if you’re a Notre Dame fan but good for Cincinnati. If the Irish are going to embrace being the villain then they’ve got to be willing to take it when things get thrown back at them.
And for acting like they’ve been there before?
Save it, they haven’t! Life is too stinking short to let this bother you. Be more upset about the fact Tyler Buchner was brought into the game on 1st-and-10 at the Cincinnati 35 with 9:20 to play in the third quarter.
Related:
Notre Dame falls to No. 7 Cincinnati: 5 instant takeaways
5 Stars: best and worst of Notre Dame’s home loss to Cincinnati
Who you got today?
No. 9 Notre Dame playing host to No. 7 Cincinnati is the only top-10 matchup of the weekend but thanks to a hot start from unbeaten and No. 8 Arkansas, the Irish didn’t play host to ESPN’s College Gameday on Saturday.
The Gameday crew did their show from Sanford Stadium in Athens ahead of No. 2 Georgia vs. No. 8 Arkansas but everyone had a prediction for the battle between Notre Dame and Cincinnati. Here is who each picked as Team USA Ryder Cup member Harris English served as the celebrity guest picker:
Fan Vote: Cincinnati (58%)
Desmond Howard: Notre Dame
Harris English: Notre Dame
Lee Corso: Notre Dame
Kirk Herbstreit: Cincinnati
Herbstreit noted that Cincinnati’s defense will be the difference. Will he be right?
Let’s hope not as kickoff is coming up at 2:30 p.m. ET.
See Notre Dame’s all-time results on ESPN’s College Gameday
Related:
FIW Staff Predictions for Notre Dame-Cincinnati
Notre Dame releases depth chart for test with No. 8 Cincinnati
Gallery – Brian Kelly during his time at Cincinnati
5 things Luke Fickell said ahead of Notre Dame-Cincinnati
How college football experts are predicting Notre Dame-Cincinnati showdown
How to watch Notre Dame, the underdog, on Saturday.
Notre Dame has perhaps their toughest opponent of the 2021 season coming to South Bend Saturday as it’ll be a battle of top-10 teams when Cincinnati arrives for perhaps the biggest game in their program’s history.
Don’t miss any of the action as the Irish return to their home turf and to NBC on television. See the TV details below:
Date: Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021
Time: 2:30 p.m. ET
TV: NBC
Livestream: fuboTV (try it free)
Notre Dame is looking to move to 5-0 ahead of a trip to Virginia Tech next week.
Related:
FIW Staff Predictions for Notre Dame-Cincinnati
Notre Dame releases depth chart for test with No. 8 Cincinnati
Gallery – Brian Kelly during his time at Cincinnati
5 things Luke Fickell said ahead of Notre Dame-Cincinnati
How college football experts are predicting Notre Dame-Cincinnati showdown
Go Irish, beat Bearcats.
Notre Dame and Cincinnati might not be getting the College Gameday treatment but its still as big of game as there is in college football this weekend as it’s the only top-10 matchup.
Can Cincinnati win what is probably their biggest game in program history? Or will Notre Dame win yet again on their home turf?
It should be a doozy but if you’re somehow not ready for it yet be sure to check out the hype tape that the Notre Dame advanced media team put out on Friday:
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