Irish Breakdown

Notre Dame Gains Big as Georgia Tech Upsets Miami in Stunner

Notre Dame receives major College Football Playoff help

Nick Shepkowski

Nov 9, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets quarterback Haynes King (10) runs the ball against the Miami Hurricanes in the second quarter at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field.
Nov 9, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets quarterback Haynes King (10) runs the ball against the Miami Hurricanes in the second quarter at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field. / Brett Davis-Imagn Images
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Notre Dame doesn't kickoff on Saturday until 7:30 p.m. ET against Florida State but by roughly 3:30 p.m. it had already received great news regarding the College Football Playoff.

Notre Dame's hope isn't just that it makes the College Football Playoff, but that it hosts a home game. In a perfect world that would come as either the No. 5 or No. 6 seed which would likely come with a second round matchup against the ACC or Big 12 champion.

Notre Dame ranked 10th in the intial College Football Playoff rankings that came out Tuesday but that is almost certain to rise at least one spot this week. That's because Georgia Tech, who Notre Dame beat 31-13 back on October 19, knocked off previoulsy unbeaten Miami on Saturday.

Georgia Tech Upsets Miami and What it Means for Notre Dame

The champion of the ACC is almost certain to get a top-four seed in the College Football Playoff but the biggest loser here is whoever doesn't win the ACC.

SMU sits atop the ACC standings as it is the only remaining team that is undefeated in conference. If it ends up going undefeated for the conference portion of the regular season (Boston College, Virginia, and Cal remain) then it'll likely come down to "win percentage versus common opponents based upon their order of finish (overall conference win percentage, with ties broken) and proceeding through other common opponents based upon their order of finish" or "Combined win percentage of conference opponents" according to ACC guidelines.

Translation: The ACC's chances of being a two-bid league took a massive hit.

The contenders for the conference championship will all enter the championship game with one loss now which means the loser is getting handed a second.

Does Miami feel good about getting in at 11-2 if it doesn't have a win over a ranked team all season?

Does SMU, who ranked 13th in the initial rankings this past week feel good about making the playoff if it gets handed a second loss of the year in the ACC championship game?

Does No. 18 Pitt, who was boat-raced by SMU last week, feel like its chances of getting in if it finishes 11-2?

If Clemson can get in the title game but not win it, do you really think the Tigers, who would then have three losses, are getting in?

Regardless of Miami winning or losing Saturday, the eventual ACC champion was still very likely to be slotted ahead of Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff. The chance of seeing a second ACC potentially surpass Notre Dame in those rankings took a major hit Saturday, though, which is another task on Notre Dame's path to hosting a College Football Playoff game checked off.

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Nick Shepkowski
NICK SHEPKOWSKI

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