While there is still a chance that Notre Dame football could move up in next week’s playoff bracket, it doesn’t seem likely. The time to move up was actually this week, fresh off a blowout win over Army, while Penn State, the team they should leap, won a nailbiter against Minnesota.
The Irish are the No. 7 seed in this week’s playoff bracket. Penn State is No. 6 and while there’s an argument to be made that the Blue and Gold are better than the Blue and White, it doesn’t appear the College Football Playoffs Committee agrees.
The Notre Dame football team knew there was a chance the Nittany Lions’ close loss could allow the Irish to jump. It seems unlikely they’ll have the same opportunity with Penn State not slated for a Big Ten Title Game appearance and facing off against Maryland this weekend.
Notre Dame football has a Penn State sized playoff seed beef
The eye test shows that most people who don’t immediately kneejerk with “NIU” understand that the Irish look better than Penn State.
Beyond the eye test, many metrics, especially on the defensive side of the ball, indicate Notre Dame is a better football team than Penn State. But in the last few weeks, against ranked teams, the offense has looked plenty powerful while the Nittany Lions don’t look all that great on either side of the ball.
There is one final argument to be made for the Notre Dame football team. If they manage to absolutely blow USC out of the water, and Penn State struggles again against Maryland, there’s a chance. The Trojans took their new Big Ten rival to OT. It is the only “like” opponent for the two one-loss squads. Should that happen and the Irish are still seeded behind PSU, then there will be a big beef with the committee.