No. 10 Notre Dame is going to be sweating about the final College Football Playoff rankings while sitting idle during conference championship weekend.
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On Tuesday, the CFP selection committee dropped the Irish down one spot, promoting Alabama to No. 9 after beating a 5-6 Auburn team 27-20 on Saturday. BYU, set to play No. 4 Texas Tech in the Big 12 championship on Saturday, is No. 11. Miami is No. 12.
No. 10 is the worst place to be before the weekend. It’s the final at-large bubble spot.
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If BYU wins the Big 12 championship, two Big 12 teams could get into the final bracket, and the Irish would fall out of the CFP. If the Cougars lose, Miami and Notre Dame would be expected to move beside each other for the committee to decide which team belongs in the tournament.
During an appearance on the ESPN broadcast on Tuesday night, committee member Hunter Yurachek suggested that an idle Hurricanes team could move ahead of the idle Irish based on the outcomes of certain conference championship games.
“Indeed, idle teams can move following the results of the championship games and how they impact the teams that are around those that play in the championship game, and data such as strength of scheduled–teams that may be idle,” Yurachek said. “So yes, teams that are idle can move up or down.”
Rece Davis asked Yurachek a follow-up question, specifically asking if Miami could jump Notre Dame. Yurachek didn’t name any team specifically, saying all programs will be reranked before the final release on Sunday.
“Following the championship games, we will re-rank the top 25 teams, and we’ll see where they fall,” Yurachek said.
Notre Dame’s best hope is for Alabama to get blown out and for BYU to lose.Â
Miami will be cheering for a Texas Tech victory and for the selection committee to value the head-to-head data point above the product seen on the field in the other 22 games played by the Hurricanes and Irish.
For more on the NCAA, head to Newsweek Sports.