Irish at #4 in penultimate week for college football playoff rankings

Charmed life

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish moved up one spot in the college football playoff rankings in the penultimate week of action.

1. Oregon Ducks
2. Texas Longhorns
3. Penn State Nittany Lions
4. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
5. Georgia Bulldogs
6. Ohio State Buckeyes
7. Tennessee Volunteers
8. SMU Mustangs
9. Indiana Hoosiers
10. Boise State Broncos
11. Alabama Crimson Tide
12. Miami Hurricanes
13. Ole Miss Rebels
14. South Carolina Gamecocks
15. Arizona State Sun Devils
16. Iowa State Cyclones
17. Clemson Tigers
18. BYU Cougars
19. Missouri Tigers
20. UNLV Rebels
21. Illinois Illini
22. Syracuse Orange
23. Colorado Buffaloes
24. Army Black Knights
25. Memphis Tigers

These rankings give way to a reflective playoff brackets. Remember — these are NOT projections. They are reflections of the current rankings.

After Ohio State lost to the Michigan Wolverines, I knew the committee would just leave Penn State ranked one spot above Notre Dame rather than having the Irish jump over them as many believed after last week. They had every reason they needed to do it now with the USC comparisons, but instead might wait until after the Big 10 Championship game. It’s still probable that even if PSU loses they will keep them above Notre Dame, but we will need to see the game played first.

I’ve worked through a number of different scenarios and the Irish could be a 5, 6, or even 7 come Sunday — which leaves a bigger handful of possible opponents in South Bend.

Regardless, Notre Dame will have a home playoff game and it will likely be on Friday night to start everything in the new 12 Team Playoff era.

More to come.