Notre Dame rises in College Football Playoff rankings to #6

These aren’t real projections — they’re reflections

The third set of College Football Playoff rankings were released on Tuesday night in an abbreviated show — which was much appreciated. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish moved up two spots thanks to a loss from Tennessee and BYU.

1 Oregon Ducks 11-0
2 Ohio State Buckeyes 9-1
3 Texas Longhorns 9-1
4 Penn State Nittany Lions 9-1
5 Indiana Hoosiers 10-0
6 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 9-1
7 Alabama Crimson Tide 8-2
8 Miami Hurricanes 9-1
9 Mississippi Rebels 8-2
10 Georgia Bulldogs 8-2
11 Tennessee Volunteers 8-2
12 Boise State Broncos 9-1
13 SMU Mustangs 9-1
14 BYU Cougars 9-1
15 Texas A&M Aggies 8-2
16 Colorado Buffaloes 8-2
17 Clemson Tigers 8-2
18 South Carolina Gamecocks 7-3
19 Army Black Knights 9-0
20 Tulane Green Wave 9-2
21 Arizona State Sun Devils 8-2
22 Iowa State Cyclones 8-2
23 Missouri Tigers 7-3
24 UNLV Rebels 8-2
25 Illinois Illini 7-3

I think each week we are going to stack the projected brackets just so we have a framework in front of us. These can barely be called projections anyways. They’re really just reflections of the rankings as there is no real projecting of the final bracket (which is all that matters).

Notre Dame moves to the 8 seed (one seed up) to be slotted with Alabama. With two regular season weeks left, there is still a ton of football to be played, and the Irish are now in position to host a home playoff game. The ceiling for the Irish might be the 6 seed — although the 7 seed is most likely.