What Is Notre Dame Football’s Best Case Scenario? ND on SI Noon Question

If Notre Dame is good as expected, what's REALLY the ceiling for this team - at least the most realistic one? We give the best case scenario in today's ND on SI Noon Question.

Dec 29, 2023; El Paso, TX, USA; Notre Dame defense celebrate after a safety is announced after an official review in the second half at Sun Bowl Stadium. / Ivan Pierre Aguirre-USA TODAY Sports

What if Notre Dame really is just THAT good?

Or, what if Notre Dame really is just really, really good, and the relativley light schedule helps pave the way to a monster season?

What's Notre Dame football's ceiling in 2024? Just how good can this team be, and just how high can it go?

Every day at noon ET we put up our daily thoughts on something Irish related. For today, what’s the best case scenario this season for the Irish? We try to come up with what might happen in today’s ND on SI Noon Question.

Notre Dame Football Best Case Scenario: Top Ten

Rich Cirminiello
@RichCirminiello

Win a playoff game for the first time and finish in the top ten.

The schedule isn’t too thorny. The roster is deep and talented. The coach is beginning his third season. And the defense from front to back will be as nasty as any in the country.

Now that the playoffs have expanded, just earning a berth is below this team’s potential. Notre Dame is built to host and win a first-round game and move onto the quarterfinals.

Can the Irish win two playoff games? Absolutely, but a lot will depend on the draw. If they get the Big 12 or ACC winner, they might be favored on a neutral site. If it’s the SEC or Big Ten, ND won’t have enough offense consistency to beat the likes of Georgia, Ohio State or Oregon. 

Notre Dame Football Best Case Scenario: The Ohio State or Georgia ceiling

Pete Fiutak
@PeteFiutak

Get the No. 5 seed in the College Football Playoff, win a first round home game, pull off a win over the 4 seed in the second round, get into the CFP Final Four, and be respectable for a half before getting rolled by No. 1 Ohio State or Georgia by 157.

That’s absolutely nothing against the Irish - they’ll be fantastic this season. I have an unwavering belief that we’re all just killing time until the ungodly talented Buckeyes and Bulldogs play each other for the national title.

WITH THAT SAID, what happened over each of the last two seasons? TCU, and Washington. 2022 Michigan was far better than TCU, and gagged. 2023 Texas was far better than Washington, and gagged. It's entirely possible something weird happens on the right day and the 1 or 2 seeds go down.

So if I'm really answering the question correctly, Notre Dame could get to the national championship ... and then lose to Ohio State or Georgia by 157.

Notre Dame Football Best Case Scenario: A Year to Remember

Nick Shepkowski
@NickShepkowski

I won’t feed you the Kool-Aid on how Notre Dame can win a title - even if there is an extremely complicated way - but this team can make noise. 

Beat Texas A&M and the schedule is very favorable. 

Notre Dame could be 11-0 headed to USC. Win that, get the five-seed and beat a Group of Five team, then beat a Big 12 or ACC champ and you’re in the semifinal.

It'll be tough to see Notre Dame getting to the level Georgia, Ohio State, and Oregon seem to be at but 14-1 would be a year to remember.