Greg McElroy evaluates how comfortable Notre Dame should be in College Football Playoff spot
At the time, Notre Dame’s 16-14 home loss to Northern Illinois was a gut check to the Fighting Irish. It was the kind of setback that makes headlines, seats hot and press conferences uncomfortable.
Now, two months later, that defeat stings a lot less in South Bend.
It’s a blip on the radar for head coach Marcus Freeman’s team, which came in at No. 10 in the first College Football Playoff rankings of the season Tuesday night. If the season ended right now, the Irish would be playing a first-round playoff game versus No. 6 but 7-seed Penn State in Happy Valley.
ESPN analyst Greg McElroy reacted to the Irish’s placement on his show Wednesday.
“Perfectly fine with where Notre Dame is ranked,” McElroy said. “I continually hear that Notre Dame lost to NIU, and they shouldn’t have this, and they shouldn’t have that. Guys, Notre Dame does have a good win against Louisville now. There was a point not that long ago when it looked like Louisville wasn’t going to be a very good win for ’em. There was a point where I didn’t think that Notre Dame had a lot of good resume-building wins outside of Texas A&M.
“A&M lost last weekend, but Louisville won, which means things are kind of, you know, worked out, if you will. Louisville now resides in the Top 25, so does Texas A&M.”
Notre Dame took down Texas A&M, 23-13, on the road in Week 1. The Aggies followed up that loss with seven straight victories before suffering a blowout defeat to South Carolina last week. Texas A&M is currently No. 14 in the CFP rankings and the “second team out” in the 12-team field.
Louisville, meanwhile, is No. 22 in the CFP rankings. The Cardinals are 6-3, including 4-2 in ACC play, following their first-ever win over Clemson, a 33-21 triumph in Death Valley.
Notre Dame took care of Louisville at home back in Week 5, 31-24. The Irish also grabbed a decisive win against then-ranked Navy in Week 9. They still have to play Florida State, Virginia, No. 25 Army and USC. Of those final four regular season games, only the USC matchup is a “true” road game. The Irish’s showdown with Army will be played at Yankee Stadium, as part of their “Shamrock Series.”
“Notre Dame’s in a really good spot,” McElroy said. “They win out, they’re in. They’re going to be just fine. The big question about Notre Dame is whether or not they will host a home playoff game, and at this point, based on what I heard from [CFP selection committee chair] Warde Manuel, it sounds like there’s gonna be some acknowledgement of teams that lose on Conference Championship Saturday.
“Now take take of that what you want. But if I’m Notre Dame, I’m comfortable in knowing I’ll be in. I’m comfortable in knowing I’ll have a chance. But I’m really uncomfortable because, at this point, I don’t know for certain that I’m going to be able to host there in South Bend.”
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