Did Notre Dame’s 52-3 waxing of Florida State on Saturday night refract the eye test when it comes to the College Football Playoff?
It’s not quite that simple, given nothing regarding the CFP rankings happens in a vacuum. But what is definitive is the Irish find themselves in the No. 8 spot in the second set of rankings, unveiled on Tuesday night between men’s college basketball games on ESPN.
Notre Dame debuted at No. 10 last week. The Irish had climbed in both of the traditional polls on Sunday following tied for the most lopsided loss imposed on the Seminoles in their history, from No. 10 to No. 8 in the AP poll and No. 8 to No. 7 in the coaches poll.
And the CFP selection committee was in step with that movement.
With Georgia and Miami both losing on Saturday, the reshuffled top 12 looked as follows: 1. Oregon, 2. Ohio State, 3. Texas, 4. Penn State, 5. Indiana, 6. BYU, 7. Tennessee, 8. ND, 9. Miami, 10. Alabama, 11. Ole Miss, and 12. Georgia.
The top five conference champs earn automatic bids into the 12-team College Football Playoff field. The top four receive first-round byes. With the highest-ranked ACC team, Miami at No. 9, the Hurricanes jump to a No. 4 seed and knock the Irish — and others — back a spot in the seedings.
Thus, Notre Dame’s playoff path at the moment would start with a road game vs. 8 seed Tennessee, then No. 1 Oregon in the Rose Bowl in the quarterfinals.
No. 1 Oregon (10-0): at Wisconsin (5-4), vs. Washington (5-5)
No. 2 Ohio State (8-1): at Northwestern (4-5), vs. Indiana (10-0), vs. Michigan (5-5)
No. 3 Texas (8-1): at Arkansas (5-4), vs. Kentucky (3-6), at Texas A&M (7-2)
No. 4 Penn State (8-1): at Purdue (1-8), at Minnesota (6-4), vs. Maryland (4-5)
No. 5 Indiana (10-0): at Ohio State (8-1), vs. Purdue (1-8)
No. 6 BYU: vs. Kansas (3-6), at Arizona State (7-2), vs. Houston (4-5)
No. 7 Tennessee (8-1): at Georgia (7-2), vs. UTEP (2-8), vs. Vanderbilt (6-4)
No. 8 Notre Dame (8-1): vs. Virginia (5-4), neutral site vs. Army (9-0), at USC (4-5)
No. 9 Miami: vs. Wake Forest (4-5), at Syracuse (6-3)
No. 10 Alabama (7-2): vs. Mercer (FCS, 9-1), vs. Oklahoma (5-5), vs. Auburn (3-6)
No. 11 Ole Miss (8-2): at Florida (4-5) vs. Mississippi State (2-8)
No. 12 Georgia (7-2): vs. Tennessee (8-1), vs. UMass (2-7), vs. Georgia Tech (6-4)
No. 13 Boise State (8-1): at San Jose State (6-3), at Wyoming (2-7), vs. Oregon State (4-5)
No. 14 SMU (8-1): vs. Boston College (5-4), at Virginia (5-4), vs. Cal (5-4)
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