Is Notre Dame in or out of the College Football Playoff? It’s the question that’s being bandied about after the Fighting Irish’s huge loss to NIU.
In truth, there’s no way to know until the rest of the season unfolds. We’re just two weeks in and arguments can be made both ways. Notre Dame could also be helped or hurt by how other teams do going forward.
CBS Sports took a look at both the argument for and the argument against the Irish in a point/counterpoint post between writers Will Backus and Shehan Jeyarajah. Backus backed (pun intended, sorry) the Irish and Jeyarajah argued the other side.
![Notre Dame football is on the wrong end of a home-favorite stat](https://fightingirishwire.usatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/USATSI_24180422.jpg)
Here’s some of what Backus said: “It’s not like 10 more wins aren’t attainable for the Irish, either. They’ll have a chance to pad their résumé against ranked teams like No. 19 Louisville and No. 11 USC. Though Florida State has lost its luster, beating the Seminoles still resonates”
And Jeyarajah: “Realistically, the path is for Notre Dame — a team that just stumbled against a MAC team — to win 10 straight games, including tricky matchups like Georgia Tech, Army and No. 19 Louisville. Then, it has to hope that these wins actually remain impressive by the end of the year. And then even on top of that, it has to hope that every at-large team in the country finishes with multiple losses.”
Who do you think is right? How will it all play out?
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