Week 6 of College Football Delivers Both Clarity and Confusion

Where does Notre Dame football fit in this modern landscape after a crazy weekend?

Notre Dame cornerback Christian Gray (29) celebrates winning a NCAA college football game 31-24 against Louisville at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in South Bend. | MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

There's a reason games are played on the field and not on paper

At first glance, Week 6 of the college football slate seemed to be lacking. It didn't feature many "marquee" matchups or ranked vs ranked type games. Just when fans started to expect a sleepy week of "chalk" results, a handful of upsets occurred that reminded us all why games are played on a field and not on paper or a recruiting database.

Seeing this many teams lose games that weren't expected to, starting with Alabama, lends to some basic questions being asked. Is 2024 a year of true parity in college football?

How will these results factor into the new CFP with 12 teams gaining entry and an expansive seeding process with no baseline data to peruse? And what happens when teams within the top 12 in the rankings start losing multiple games? How will the committee navigate comparing schedules and records at that point?

This moment ... pic.twitter.com/dXbkerlzUA

— Vanderbilt Football (@VandyFootball) October 6, 2024

Notre Dame's path through chaos became much clearer & obvious

Through the chaos that was week 6 of college football 2024, Notre Dame's path forward became solidified. To ensure a CFP bid, Notre Dame must win out.

This is much easier said than done and is a very stressful position to be in as a program, but the Irish put themselves in this position with the Northern Illinois loss and much win their way out of it.

Some years, Notre Dame could probably make the CFP field with 2 losses. I don't believe this is one of those years due to the Irish's schedule and loss to Northern Illinois. The only way to guarantee a bid is to win 7 games in a row. The mission is clear.

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