Nov 14, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish cornerback Christian Gray (29) celebrates a stop against the Boston College Eagles during the second half at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect Joshua Vowles · SB Nation Sun, November 15, 2026 at 8:26 AM UTC · 3 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Notre Dame Fighting Irish probably play more playoff football than anyone in the country. That statement isn't a brag, it's just the reality Notre Dame has been living for the last three seasons — and it's mostly their own fault.
In 2024, Notre Dame lost to Northern Illinois in the second game of the season, and they played win or go home football all the way to the National Championship game against Ohio State. In 2025, Notre Dame lost two very close games to start the season, and then went on to pound the rest of their 10 opponents until the playoff committees executed the PROTECT ALABAMA GAMEPLAN, and left the Irish stranded in South Bend.
2026 is very much the same as both 2024 and 2025. After the loss to BYU, there was no room for error for the Irish — especially when they were initially ranked No. 11 in the first CFP rankings as opposed to their No. 4 AP Top 25 ranking. The Miami game (because who really cares about the Navy game) was the first playoff game of 2026 for the Irish. They don't get the special treatment that everyone believes they do — that alone is for the circle jerking of the SEC (obviously).
After Notre Dame's win over Miami, a few of the talking heads in the media tried selling people the idea that even if the Irish do drop one of their last three games — they're still probably IN the playoffs. The unproven truth, however, is that those statements are FALSE and misleading as hell. The bigger discourse going on right now isn't about which teams are getting into the CFP, it's about which conferences get what number in the playoff.
All Notre Dame has to do is slip, and this committee will be ready to push them off of a cliff.
All of THAT is why Notre Dame's 41-7 win over Boston College is fairly encouraging. The Irish were coming off of a huge win, and on a gloomy and cold day, they went out there and beat the hell out of a crappy team. I know that doesn't sound exciting, but it shows how locked in this Notre Dame team is right now. The Irish went out there and put up 500 yards of offense, and gave up just 136 yards. Jonaz Walton, alone, outgained the entire Boston College team.
Notre Dame has two games left of the regular season — which is basically just a couple of "play in" games. None of it has to be pretty, as an 11-1 Irish team who is currently ranked No. 5 in the CFP rankings is a lock to get in the thing. Still, as it is with any playoff run, Notre Dame has to be absolutely locked in to the task at hand. In doing that, Notre Dame should win these games by a good margin — and then it's onto round two of the playoffs (which is actually round one or a bye week).
Source: Sports
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