Notre Dame in College Football Playoff rankings: Irish move up again

Notre Dame moved up in the College Football Playoff rankings for the third-straight week. The Irish came in at No. 6 in the latest reveal. It's the highest CFP ranking Notre Dame has had since checking in at No. 4 as a semifinalist last season.

Notre Dame moved past Oregon and Michigan State, two teams that both suffered their second losses of the season in blowout fashion last week. Oregon fell to Utah 38-7. Michigan State was walloped by Ohio State 56-7.

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Notre Dame, meanwhile, just kept on winning. The Irish won their sixth game in a row by easily handling Georgia Tech 55-0 at Notre Dame Stadium. The Irish are heavy favorites once again in this week's regular season finale. Head coach Brian Kelly’s team is favored to beat Stanford by 19 points according to OddsShark.com.

If Notre Dame gets the job done Saturday in Palo Alto, Kelly will record his fourth season with 11 or more wins as the Irish's head coach. He's in his 12th season in South Bend. Two of the other such seasons have come in the last four years. Notre Dame has now won 10-plus games in five-straight seasons for the first time in school history.

An 11-1 finish this year still might not be enough to sneak the Irish into the College Football Playoff for the third time in the last four seasons. Notre Dame still sits behind No. 4 Cincinnati in the rankings. The Bearcats beat the Irish 24-13 at Notre Dame Stadium on Oct. 2. Cincinnati is the first ever non-Power Five team to be ranked inside the CFP top four.

There is a scenario in which both Notre Dame and Cincinnati both fit into the top four. Three of the teams ranked ahead of Notre Dame — No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Alabama and No. 5 Michigan — could feasibly finish the year with two losses apiece and consequently eliminate themselves from CFP consideration.

That would involve Ohio State beating Michigan this week and losing in the Big 10 Championship Game and Alabama losing either this week to Auburn or in the SEC Championship Game against Georgia.

Of course, a number of scenarios could play out besides that combination. Notre Dame also seems to be rooting for the Big 12 champion to have two losses. There are two one-loss Big 12 teams and one with two losses breathing down Notre Dame's neck in the rankings.

Point being: Notre Dame does not control its own playoff destiny. There are outcomes that could help the Irish's chances and others that could hurt them. All Kelly and company can do is beat Stanford and watch what else happens in the final two weeks before bowl season.