How Notre Dame can get back into the playoff picture

The College Football Playoff debuted last season and most would say it was a resounding success – unless you’re partial to either Baylor or TCU, in which you think it was a sham.

All four teams that moved into the rankings this week have already been there previously this season.

Stanford fans, hope desperately for a Rose Bowl appearance, and should Stanford wake up on December 6 with a spot in the top four, be deliriously surprised. “We still have to play the game against Stanford and it’s going to be the exact same”. Beat Florida State, win the SEC championship, get into the College Football Playoff.

The Irish are 2-1 against teams in the CFP Top 25, beating Navy at home and getting a four-point win over Temple in Philadelphia. If North Carolina wins out and squeaks by Clemson in the ACC Championship, the Tar Heels could end up with the Ohio State treatment from previous year. “How they played in that game, the closeness of that loss is something that’s discussed”. Clemson will be coming off a closing stretch with Syracuse, Wake Forest and SC, which could create a little complacency as the Tigers playoff spot is all but secured. North Carolina (10-1), 15.

Playoff Outlook: Very good, assuming Michigan State can win this week against Penn State and Iowa (No. 3 AP) can finish its surprising undefeated regular season with a victory at Nebraska.

Oklahoma survived a scare from TCU to improve to 10-1. So the team that ended up facing Miami was Nebraska – which lost its final regular season game 62-36 to Colorado and wasn’t even the Big 12 champion.

TCU (9-2) dipped to No. 19, down from No. 16 last week, with its loss to the Sooners.

Oklahoma (#3 seed) wins 52.3% of the time against Alabama (#2 seed) with an average score of 26-25 in the other projected playoff semifinal. They also have to beat No. 3 Oklahoma tonight for the Big 12 championship. But, really, which teams can get it done?

Ohio State had its 23-game win streak and record 30-game Big Ten win streak snapped Saturday vs. Michigan State.

Hours before the College Football Playoff Selection Committee evicted Notre Dame from its No. 4 perch in the rankings Tuesday night, Brian Kelly lamented the lingering flaw that finally caught up with the Irish. From a pure statistical approach, odds are Stanford doesn’t even win out. Alabama could fall at Auburn this weekend.

The conference’s other one-loss team, Baylor (9-1) plays TCU this week and Texas on December 5. Alabama is firing on all cylinders, has playoff aspirations, and is looking to clinch another trip to the SEC Championship Game today with a win over the Tigers.

Alabama, ranked second, has a challenge this weekend at Auburn in the famed Iron Bowl.

The victor of the SEC Championship Game is in the CFP.

It’s hard to criticize the Irish for their one loss this year, considering all the injuries Notre Dame has endured in 2015. The fact that Florida still has just one loss this year is testament to the job that Jim McElwain has done.

If the answers to those questions are “yes” and “no”, respectively, this is what we could potentially see. Good thing this one kicks off first; Michigan State could render it moot.

This scenario is nearly assuredly not happening.

Notre Dame at Stanford, 7:30 p.m., Fox29: The CFP selection committee dropped the Fighting Irish out of the top four in the latest poll after the team’s mistake-filled win over Boston College. The Sooners’ loss was to Texas and with the Big 12 now using head-to-head tiebreakers, they would be the conference’s one champion.

Without a victory Saturday in Palo Alto, Calif., the Irish can altogether kiss goodbye their chances of making the four-team College Football Playoff.