Notre Dame Back in College Football Playoff Contention: What’s Next?

Will Notre Dame make a College Football Playoff run or fizzle out?

Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love (4) breaks free from a tackle on his way to score a touchdown during a NCAA college football game between Notre Dame and Louisville at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in South Bend. / MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Notre Dame has benefited from chaos in a major way

After Notre Dame's brutal Week 2 loss at the hands of Northern Illinois, the Irish have quietly been collecting wins while being ranked in the mid-teens.

And then chaos happened.

A handful of upsets changed everything while the Irish were on an off week, and that bumped up Notre Dame squarely back into CFP position and has rejuvenated the Irish fan base.

This last week was a reminder that other teams, not just Notre Dame, sometimes lose games, even games they are favored to win. It happens.

And it happened often last Saturday. As a result, the Irish sit at number 11 in the rankings and are again in decent playoff contention. The question now becomes what will Notre Dame do with this opportunity.

The road ahead is full of challenges, but all manageable ones for Notre Dame

Notre Dame has seven regular season games left on the schedule. It's reasonable to believe the Irish may be favored in all of these games. There isn't a single team left on the schedule that it feels like Notre Dame shouldn't or couldn't defeat. The opportunity to run the table is very real.

While it's true Notre Dame could easily win all of its remaining games, there are concerns. This team is beat up and at some point one worries that there are simply too many personnel issues to overcome without suffering another loss somewhere along the way.

On top of this concern, the Northern Illinois loss showed that on an off day, the Irish can lose to anyone they face and cannot afford to let another game get away from them.

Notre Dame is in playoff position once again. It's up to them what they do with this terrific opportunity.

For more Irish news & notes follow John on Twitter @alwaysirishINC, Always Irish on Youtube and or your preferred audio podcast provider.

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