After debuting at No. 2 in last week’s College Football Playoff poll, Notre Dame solidified its grip on that spot with a 31-17 win at previous No. 19 and now No. 17 North Carolina last Friday.
Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly classified the second half of that victory as the best two quarters of football played by his team this season , with Notre Dame shutting out the prolific Tar Heels offense and then also putting together 97- and 89-yard touchdown drives of their own. Yet North Carolina put up enough of a fight to improve its ranking by two spots, which says just as much about the respect toward Notre Dame.
The Fighting Irish (9-0 overall, 8-0 ACC) remain behind only top-ranked Alabama (8-0) in the CFP Top 25 and ahead of No. 3 Clemson (8-1) and No. 4 Ohio State (4-0).
Notre Dame is the lone Power Five team with nine wins, the only team to beat another top-four team and one of four top-10 teams with a win over another top-10 unit.
• Alabama has defeated No. 5 Texas A&M and No. 8 Georgia.
• No. 6 Florida conquered Georgia.
• Texas A&M vanquished Florida.
• Clemson defeated No. 10 Miami.
A couple of hours prior to the release of the CFP rankings, the ACC made the announcement that he league’s athletics directors had voted to preserve the integrity of the ACC Championship Game by evaluating each of the three teams in contention — Clemson, Miami and Notre Dame — based on a nine-game conference schedule.
Thus, because Notre Dame already is 8-0 in the league and Clemson 7-1, both the Irish and Tigers will conclude (if possible) the regular season this Saturday, Notre Dame by hosting 1-9 Syracuse and Clemson by playing at Virginia Tech (4-5 overall).
If both the 33-point favorite Irish and 21.5-point favorite Tigers hold serve, the long-anticipated second matchup between the two will take place in the ACC Championship Dec. 19 at Charlotte, N.C. The winner would assuredly be included in the CFP field, and if Notre Dame is the loser, it still would have a bona fide chance to be in the four-team field.
The CFP semifinals are Jan. 1 at the Rose and Sugar Bowls. The No. 1 team is sent to the semifinal location closest to it. Alabama, if it holds the top spot, would presumably head to the Sugar Bowl. The two winners on New Years Day play for the national title on Jan. 11 at Miami.
An unbeaten Notre Dame would likely stay ranked No. 2 and play in the Rose Bowl. If it loses but still reaches the field, a drop to No. 4 and Sugar Bowl meeting with Alabama (if still unbeaten) becomes more likely.
The No. 2 spot is the highest Notre Dame has earned in the seven seasons of the CFP rankings. The Irish were No. 3 in 2017 and 2018, and No. 4 in 2015.
CFP Top 25
1. Alabama (8-0)
2. Notre Dame (9-0)
3. Clemson (8-1)
4. Ohio State (4-0)
5. Texas A&M (6-1)
6. Florida (7-1)
7. Cincinnati (8-0)
8. Georgia (6-2)
9. Iowa State (7-2)
10. Miami (7-1)
11. Oklahoma (6-2)
12. Indiana (5-1)
13. BYU (9-0)
14. Northwestern (5-1)
15. Oklahoma State (6-2)
16. Wisconsin (2-1)
17. North Carolina (6-3)
18. Coastal Carolina (9-0)
19.Iowa (4-2)
20. USC (3-0)
21. Marshall (7-0)
22. Washington (3-0)
23. Oregon (3-1)
24. Tulsa (5-1)
25. Louisiana (8-1)
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