The first official College Football Playoff bracket was announced, and Notre Dame was projected to be a road team.
The Fighting Irish was slated as the 10th seed and would travel to 7th-seeded Penn State.
There’s a long way to go, and Notre Dame has no wiggle room. One more loss and the Fighting Irish won’t have any chance of going to the playoffs.
Notre Dame finishes the season against Florida State (1-8), Virginia (4-4), (25) Army (8-0), and a trip to Los Angeles to face USC (4-5).
The question has been how much the committee would hold the Northern Illinois loss against the Fighting Irish despite wins over Texas A&M and Louisville.
Oregon, Georgia, Miami, and BYU are slated to get the byes, but the seedings for teams that could play in conference championship games are tenuous.
Will there be enough losses by the right teams for Notre Dame to host a game?
Time will tell.