Notre Dame No. 8 in College Football Playoff Rankings

Notre Dame moved up to No. 8 in the College Football Playoff rankings this week, and if the playoffs started today, it would be the No. 9 seed. 

Who would the Irish play? Marcus Freeman’s Fighting Irish would make a trip to arguably the loudest stadium in the country as the Tennessee Volunteers would host the Fighting Irish. 

It’s an exciting time of the year, yet it’s still business as normal around The Gug. Last week, Notre Dame’s coordinators weren’t aware the rankings were even coming out on Tuesday night. 

Now, Mike Denbrock and Al Golden are different than some of the hotshot coordinators out there, but the mindset starts from the top down as Marcus Freeman’s focus isn’t on the weekly rankings. 

Notre Dame approaches each game with the same intensity in preparation and then treats each opponent the same as the Irish head into a key three-game stretch. 

”Every game, this game is the Super Bowl,” stated Freeman on Monday. “No matter if we are in the playoff hunt or not, it’s the same mindset we have. You get 12 of these guaranteed opportunities. I told the team in the locker room, we’re guaranteed one more opportunity in Notre Dame Stadium for these seniors. To think about anything other than that, you’re doing this game a disservice.”

Freeman’s message has hit home as it’s coming from a former player who played in national title games and on the biggest stages in college football. He’s lived in their shoes, so it’s easy for his team to relate and follow his lead because he gets it. 

“They work 300 days a year for 12 guaranteed opportunities no matter if this game determines if we make the playoffs or not. Coming from a player, coming from a coach, this is what you work for all year long.

“To make a game mean less than another game because you’re going to make the playoffs or not, you don’t love this game of football, man. That’s the mindset we have. Every week is the Super Bowl.” 

The chances for the Irish to be mentioned in the playoff discussion looked slim after week two. In fact, if you’re reading this, you probably didn’t expect the Irish to be back in the race much less in a fight to host a playoff game. 

Where did the turnaround start? It started with better Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday practices. 

“I wish I could say there was just one moment that it happened, but I think you earn validity by seeing the outcome, right,” explained Freeman. “You push 'em and you push 'em and they get the outcome that they wanted to. 'OK, coach is right or the plan is right.' I think they all know how important preparation is. But their performance has really been at a high level. I believe they understand that. They believe that. And that's all I know.” 

Now, Freeman isn’t saying his staff and players don’t adjust well on the fly as Golden and Denbrock have proven they can adapt to multiple challenges in real time. But that preparation during the week is carries over when the Irish have to change scheme on the sideline. 

“I don't want to say that we don't make in-game adjustments,” Freeman said. “Like we're not executing because that matters, right? You got to do it on Saturday. But to give yourself a better chance to do that, you've got to do it on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. That's so important. But our coaches are making great in-game adjustments and putting our guys in position to execute and make plays.

“But the other part of that is like, and you've heard me say this before, but the future is uncertain. So why are you daydreaming about Saturday when all you have is today? So put your focus into today, into this practice, into this preparation, and Saturday comes we'll be ready to play.” 

There won’t be a lack of motivation on Saturday for Senior Day and Notre Dame’s program seems to be getting more and more confident by the week. Freeman is proud to see his team’s confidence grow, but he’s also going to be the first one to keep them grounded as he doesn’t want the pain from Northern Illinois to be lost. 

“There's a lot of confidence,” Freeman said. “I'm confident. This team is confident. But also know that with success can creep in complacency and that's what keeps me up at night. Where is the fine line between being confident and in complacency beginning to creep in? That's the thing that I sit behind my desk and think about all the time is where can we find ways to get better?

“I want them to enjoy success. Like I don't want Notre Dame, our football program, to be a place that's miserable after you have a great win like we did. But there's also a part of me that I want to be greedy. This isn't good enough. This isn't the standard. We've got to attack and we've got fix it. Great job. You guys played well on Saturday and I'm proud of you, you guys great job. But here's what we've got to focus on and improve. Confidence is good. We have a lot of confidence, but we also know there's a lot of room for improvement.”

College Football Playoff Seedings | Week Two
(12) Boise State at (5) Ohio State 
(9) Notre Dame at (8) Tennessee 
(11) Ole Miss at (6) Penn State 
(10)  Alabama at (7) Indiana

First Round Bye
(1) Oregon
(2) Texas 
(3) BYU 
(4) Miami

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