Notre Dame Lands At 9 In Latest CFP: Final Mission Is Clear

Irish must dominate and leave no doubt. Win the last two games, get into the College Football Playoff

Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback CJ Carr (13) calls an audible during the first half against the Pittsburgh Panthers at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, PA on November 15, 2025. | Michael Longo / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The stage is set for the final Notre Dame CFP push

With just a couple of games left for each team, the playoff push and drama around the CFP rankings are intensifying.

As for Notre Dame, it received good news as the Irish checked in at number nine in the latest bracket, with Alabama, fresh off a brutal loss to Oklahoma, having slid down into the 10th spot, while the Sooners jumped the Irish into the eighth slot.

Given that the 11 and 12 spots are already allotted to conference-affiliated teams based on the structure of the CFP, the 10 spot is the last available spot for the Irish to remain in the CFP bracket. In this regard, Notre Dame has a bit of breathing room, but not much.

Considering Notre Dame's 0-2 start, the Irish are in the absolute best spot possible, and deserve a ton of credit for fighting back into CFP position and staying the course throughout a long and grinding season.

The latest CFP rankings have been released 📊🏆

Do you agree? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/skfLFMVTrL

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 19, 2025

Notre Dame must continue to impress the CFP committee

While Notre Dame currently resides inside the CFP bracket, the Irish are in an interesting position for the remaining two games. The Pittsburgh game was the Irish's last chance to "impress" the committee with a ranked win, and Notre Dame did just that in its dominant road performance last weekend. Now comes the tricky part, the final two games.

It's my opinion that simply beating Syracuse and Stanford won't be good enough for the Irish. Notre Dame needs to blow these teams out. The Irish cannot give the committee a reason to even consider bouncing the Irish from the CFP field at this late stage of the game. Close wins over bad teams could do just that, especially with the Miami head-to-head debate raging.

More College Football Playoff chaos to come?

While the CFP bracket is taking shape, there's still plenty of football yet to be played. All it will take is for one or two more games to go differently than the oddsmakers expect, and this entire CFP field could shift massively.

USC could knock off Oregon. Oklahoma could drop a game to Missouri or LSU down the stretch. Ole Miss could lay an egg in the egg bowl amid all of the Lane Kiffin to LSU and or Florida drama. A lot could happen.

This is the time of year college football fans love. The drama is high, the stakes or huge, and every play counts in the most exciting regular season in all of sports!