On Tuesday night, the College Football Playoff Selection Committee released their first rankings, and Notre Dame came in at No. 10.
After starting 0-2, the Irish have rattled off six wins to find themselves in favorable positioning for the CFP.
Don’t expect Marcus Freeman to get too caught up in whether or not he approves of the Irish’s standing with the selection committee.
“If I sit in my office and try to come up with some way to utilize our ranking to use it as motivation, I'm wasting time that I need to be really using to prepare for this upcoming game on Saturday,” Freeman said.
“The minute we start thinking about college football playoff rankings, you're just wasting time.”
As it currently stands, Notre Dame would be traveling in the first round to take on No. 7 BYU in Provo, Utah.
It appears the committee have looked favorably on Notre Dame’s close losses to No. 3 Texas A&M and No. 18 Miami.
"I think it starts with two losses, total of 4 points against two very, very good teams,” CFP Committee Chair Mack Rhoades said. “One of them ranked third in the country and one ranked 18th.
"When we look at the tape, we think Notre Dame's a really solid football team, both sides of the ball."
Notre Dame’s win over No. 19 USC also has a chance to improve its resume if the Trojans can continue winning down the stretch.
Coming in right behind the Irish at No. 11 is Texas and Oklahoma sits at No. 12. This is important because a Group of 5 team will take that No. 12 spot and the ACC champion will take the No. 11 slot, meaning the cutoff line will be 10.
As of publication, Notre Dame will have a chance to earn another ranked win in two weeks when it takes on No. 24 Pitt.
