It seems like plenty of analysts are jumping on Notre Dame’s bandwagon after their thrilling double-overtime win over Clemson, 47-40, this past Saturday evening. In a tweet posted this afternoon, each one of Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff analysts predicted the Irish will make the College Football Playoffs.
☘️📈 @NDFootball's win over Clemson gave them a solid boost with our Big Noon Kickoff talent!
Whose CFP list do you agree with most? pic.twitter.com/5D325uK0zm
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 10, 2020
Three of them, former USC quarterback Matt Leinart, former Irish quarterback Brady Quinn, and host Rob Stone have Notre Dame as a two-seed. That’s where I have them as well in my projected CFP standings. Former Notre Dame assistant and hall of fame coach Urban Meyer along with former USC running back Reggie Bush have the Irish as a three-seed.
It really doesn’t matter if the Irish finish as one of the middle two seeds, they face off against each other anyways. In this scenario, they would face off against Ohio State, in what would amount to a revenge game of sorts for the Irish.
The Irish havent’ beaten Ohio State since 1936, the Buckeyes having beaten the Irish in each of their last 4 matchups since 1995. Their most recent matchup was in the 2016 Fiesta Bowl, where Ohio State defeated the Irish, 44-28.
The win over Clemson has Notre Dame squarely in the mix for a playoff berth, it would be their first since 2018, when they lost to Clemson. The Irish have certainly gotten the Tigers off their backs and will look to get the Buckeyes off their backs if they end up squaring off in a semifinal matchup.