Notre Dame Checks In At No. 4 In First CFB Playoff Rankings

Annnd we're here. 

The first batch of the College Football Playoff Rankings were released on Tuesday evening. 

Notre Dame checks in at No. 4, which is good if you're superstitious as no team ranked No. 3 in the initial rankings has ever made the playoffs. 

Now, Irish fans are already upset about being behind a one-loss program, but  LSU will host Alabama this weekend. 

“LSU and Notre Dame somewhat of a moot point because of the game this weekend in Baton Rouge,” said ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit. “If they lose that game, they will go to the back of the line. If they win that game, it becomes very interesting. What would they do with Alabama if Alabama were to lose a close game to LSU as they have been dominant against lesser opponents? How far down would Alabama finish? 

“You don’t want to jump to conclusions about any games, especially any time you go to Death Valley. For me, this laid out exactly how I thought it would go.” 

Fellow ESPN analyst David Pollack echoed Herbstriet's statement as all Notre Dame can do is win. 

“All you have to do is win,” stated ESPN analyst David Pollack. “If you’re sitting there as an Irish fan saying ‘This sucks’ it doesn’t matter. Run the table. Win your games.” 

As for the committee's reasoning for putting LSU over the Irish, Rob Mullens, the chairman for the selection committee, felt LSU had better wins at this stage. 

“When you look at LSU’s resume, they have six wins over teams over .500," said Mullens. "Their only loss was a close loss to Florida.” 

When it comes to Notre Dame's thoughts, head coach Brian Kelly isn't worried about rankings at this point. 

"I want to pay attention to the last one," Kelly said. "That's the one that really matters. Does this matter, this one? Do they put you in the Playoffs for this one? I don't think so.

"As I told our team, this one doesn't really matter. We've been down this road before. We've been selected for this one, but it doesn't get you anything. For us, the one that we're interested in, the one that we'll watch, probably we'll watch it as a team, is the last one. That's the one that we want to focus on. That's the one we'll pay attention to."

 
1. Alabama (8-0)
2. Clemson (8-0)
3. LSU (7-1)
4. Notre Dame (8-0)
5. Michigan (7-1)
6. Georgia (7-1)
7. Oklahoma (7-1)
8. Washington State (7-1)
9. Kentucky (7-1)
10. Ohio State (7-1)
11. Florida (6-2)
12. UCF (7-0)
13. West Virginia (6-1)
14. Penn State (6-2)
15. Utah (6-2)
16. Iowa (6-2)
17. Texas (6-2)
18. Mississippi State (5-3)
19. Syracuse (6-2)
20. Texas A&M (5-3)
21. NC State (5-2)
22. Boston College (6-2)
23. Fresno State (7-1)
24. Iowa State (4-3)
25. Virginia (6-2)