No. 9 Notre Dame is trying to win its 10th game in a row when it travels to play Stanford on Saturday.
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Following an 0-2 start to the season, the Fighting Irish needed to win out to have any hope of making the College Football Playoff.
There is an argument to be made for No. 13 Miami to jump ND if the Hurricanes defeat Pittsburgh in Week 14. Miami and Notre Dame would both have 10-2 records, and the Hurricanes beat the Irish 27-24 at home in Week 1.
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However, the CFP selection committee’s job isn’t to find the 12 most deserving programs. They have to fill out a 12-team bracket that includes seven at-large bids that go to the best teams.
Most analysts would argue Notre Dame looks like a better team than Miami before December, despite losing the head-to-head matchup in August.
Stanford interim head coach Frank Reich tends to agree with that sentiment. In a Zoom conference this week, Reich said the Irish look “like the best team” the Cardinal have played all year.
“No, no doubt. It’s a challenge. It’s exciting. This is a good football team,” Reich said of Notre Dame, via On3. “Like, when I put the tape on yesterday, I was like, woo, I mean, this is a real deal. I mean, this, to me, looks like the best team we’ve played all year. In the film I’ve watched, they’re really well-coached. You can just see it. It jumps off the tape. They’re very well-coached…
“For me, mostly looking at their defense right now. I’ll get to the offense a little bit later today. But looking at them defensively, really good across the board. So it’s going to be a good challenge for us. I mean, it’s a great opportunity for us coming off a big win, an emotional win (over rival California), to be able to lock down against one of the better teams in the country.”
Maybe Reich isn’t trying to give ND bulletin board material, but Stanford played Miami earlier this season. The Hurricanes hardly looked like a pushover when they routed the Cardinal 42-7 at home on Oct. 25.
Of course, recency bias might play into Reich’s thinking. The tape his staff had to watch of Notre Dame thumping Syracuse 70-7 in Week 13 would put chills down any opposing head coach’s spine.
