Notre Dame finishes No. 5 in CFP rankings, awaits NY6 bowl game destination
Close, but no cigar.
Notre Dame did everything it could since losing to Cincinnati on Oct. 2 to move up the College Football Playoff rankings. The Irish even got a little bit of help on championship Saturday. But in the end, neither were enough to get Notre Dame into the top four.
The Fighting Irish (11-1) checked in at No. 5 in the final CFP rankings behind No. 1 Alabama (12-1), No. 2 Michigan (12-1), No. 3 Georgia (12-1) and No. 4 Cincinnati (13-0). Notre Dame now awaits a New Year's Six bowl game destination, which will be announced on ESPN at 2:30 ET.
A loss from Alabama, Michigan or Cincinnati after Oklahoma State went down against Baylor would have likely landed Notre Dame in the top four. In the end, though, it was the home loss to the Bearcats in the first weekend of October that kept the Irish out of a semifinal spot.
Notre Dame will end up at one of two possible bowl game destinations; the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta, Ga., on Dec. 30 or the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz., on Jan. 1. Those are the two sites that welcome at-large NY6 qualifiers.
If it's the Fiesta Bowl, Oklahoma State (11-2) or Michigan State (10-2) are potential opponents. Pittsburgh (11-2), winner of the ACC Championship Game, has locked up its spot in the Peach Bowl.
Notre Dame has not won a NY6 bowl game (Rose, Cotton, Orange, Sugar, Fiesta or Peach) since the 1993 season when Lou Holtz guided the Irish to a 24-21 victory over No. 7 Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl. Notre Dame has lost nine BCS/NY6 bowl games in a row since then.
Newly named Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman has a chance to accomplish something in his first career game that Brian Kelly never did in 12 seasons with the program. The opponent Freeman will be up against will be revealed around 2:30 p.m. ET.
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