What Will the Final College Football Playoff Bracket Be? What Seed Will Notre Dame Earn?

Breaking down the final College Football Playoff bracket predictions and Notre Dame’s potential seeding for a championship run.

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman celebrates a turnover during a NCAA college football game against Virginia at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in South Bend. / MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It’s not like anything major changed in the latest College Football Playoff rankings. The same teams are all in the mix for the top 12 spots, but there’s one key aspect here that matters to Notre Dame.

There are too many other options.

Now, if the College Football Playoff committee just went by who it thinks the 12 best teams are - within the parameters of the automatic invites for conference champions - then yes, Notre Dame's total fluke of a loss to Northern Illinois should get blown off a tad bit, but of course it matters.

With that said, there are too many good parts to what Notre Dame has done and can potentially do, and the committee reflected that with the No. 6 spot in the latest round of rankings.

Ohio State lost to Oregon, Texas lost to Georgia, Penn State lost to Ohio State, and Indiana has yet to lose, so Notre Dame at 6 in the latest round of rankings is more than fine, but ...

(BTW, scroll down for the final call on what the final12 seeds in the CFP will be.)

Notre Dame can’t go 10-2

Notre Dame is absolutely, 100% in the College Football Playoff at 11-1. It’s been so dominant since the NIU loss that it really does deserve to be in at 10-2 - if it loses in a close, quirky way to Army or USC - but now there’s too much traffic.

Of course there will be upsets and a few crazy things happening, but assuming that almost everything goes according to plan, Texas - if it loses to Texas A&M - Texas A&M, Alabama, Ole Miss, Georgia, and Tennessee are all in the mix, but realistically there’s only room for four of the six.

SMU might win 11 games, but it’s probably out if it wins its last two games but loses the ACC Championship.

There’s probably just one ACC team getting in, and there's almost certainly just one Big 12 making the cut.

Indiana is in at 11-1 - don’t believe the final score thing; it’s almost certainly in no matter what happens to Ohio State. Oregon is in as long as it beats Washington to get to 12-0 before playing in the Big Ten Championship. Ohio State is in as long as it beats Indiana and Michigan. Penn State is in if it gets by Minnesota and Maryland, and …

Again, there isn’t much room for a 10-2 Notre Dame with that loss on the books.

So what’s going to happen and where will Notre Dame end up? Let’s do this.

College Football Playoff Final Brackets and Seeds Prediction

Starting from the top, and remember, the seeds are NOT the final rankings - the top four ranked conference champs get the top four seeds. (Current CFP ranking in parentheses.)

Here’s the call for what the final seeds will be.

1 Ohio State (2)
Prediction: 12-1. Win over Indiana, win over Michigan, win over Oregon in the Big Ten Championship for the top seed.

2 Alabama (7)
Prediction: 11-2. Wins over Oklahoma and Auburn, win over Texas vs Texas A&M winner in SEC Championship. (Don’t ask about SEC tie-breakers - Bama will most likely break through the pack to get in.)

3 Colorado (16)
Prediction: 11-2. The Buffaloes get past Kansas, beat Oklahoma State, and beat Arizona State in the Big 12 Championship.

4 Boise State (12)
Prediction: 12-1. Win over Wyoming, win over Oregon State, win over Colorado State in the Mountain West Championship. Mega-break comes that Miami loses to Syracuse to let Clemson in the ACC Championship.

5 Oregon (1)
Prediction: 12-1. Beats Washington, but loses to Ohio State in Big Ten Championship. Plays the 12 seed in Eugene.

6 Penn State (4)
Prediction: 11-1. The Nittany Lions get a tough win at Minnesota, beats Maryland. There aren’t any great wins, but finishes one spot ahead of Notre Dame because the loss to Ohio State is more acceptable. Plays at home vs the 11 seed.

7 Notre Dame (6)
Prediction: 11-1. Win over Army, win over USC, in as the 6 or 7 seed, likely the 7. Plays in South Bend vs the 10 seed.

8 Ole Miss (9)
Prediction: 10-2. Gets out of Florida alive, beats Mississippi State, gets the 8 because of the wins over Georgia and South Carolina. Plays the 9 seed in Oxford.

9 Indiana (5)
Prediction: 11-1. Loses to Ohio State, rolls by Purdue, falls to the 9 because of the lack of a great win. Goes to Oxford to play Ole Miss.

10 Georgia (10)
Prediction: 10-2. Blows out UMass, beats Georgia Tech, kicks back and gets in at the 10, but could be the 9 thanks to wins over Texas and Tennessee. Goes to Notre Dame in the first round.

11 Tennessee (11)
Prediction: 10-2. Welcome to the big controversy. Texas A&M will beat Texas to get to the SEC Championship. It’ll lose to Alabama, and at 10-3 - and because Tennessee has a win over the Tide - the Vols will get the spot.

12 Clemson (17)
Prediction: 10-3. Again, here’s the GIANT call. Miami loses to Syracuse or SMU is shocked by Virginia or Cal. Clemson loses to South Carolina, but that’s not a conference game. It gets into the ACC Championship, wins it, but Boise State is higher in the final rankings and takes the 4 seed.

- Notre Dame's Ideal Path to the College Football Playoff