College Football Playoff Projections After Week 1: Is Notre Dame In?

Four of the five days of college football have been played this Labor Day weekend, with only North Carolina and TCU's battle on Monday remaining. After a whirlwind Week 1 that saw Notre Dame fall at Miami, and a couple other top 10 teams losing, why not try and project the College Football Playoff field?

Does Notre Dame still get into the College Football Playoff after the loss? It's safe to say an 11-1 Notre Dame is again in and likely hosting a playoff game, but what about if it suffers a second regular season loss? Is there enough wiggle room for Notre Dame to still be dancing?

Here is a quick look at Nick Shepkowski's projected College Football Playoff bracket following the first weekend of games in 2025.

College Football Playoff Projections Following Week 1: The Field

Who makes it in and who gets left behind? Here's a look at my College Football Playoff projections following the first weekend of games.

1. Ohio State: Best team a year ago followed it off by knocking off No. 1 Texas in Week 1

2. LSU: Brian Kelly finally gets a huge road win at LSU and has the Tigers thinking SEC championship

3. Miami: The Hurricanes finally got that massive win, knocking off No. 6 Notre Dame. Is Miami the now the ACC favorite? They are to me.

4. Penn State: Penn State looks like it has all the makings of another 11-win regular season with a loss coming to Ohio State.

5. Georgia: After a largely disappointing Week 1 for the SEC, Georgia steamrolled Marshall.

6. Ole Miss: Yes, I'm aware you did a double take. Now go look up Ole Miss' 2025 schedule.

7. Florida State: Florida State manhandled mighty Alabama at home. Was that more about an improved Florida State or a disappointing Alabama? We're about to find out.

8. Iowa State: The Cyclones getting that Week 0 win over Kansas State in Dublin proves to be huge.

9. Notre Dame: The Irish lost Sunday but still have plenty of talent to make another College Football Playoff run.

10. Texas: There aren't nine better teams than Texas nationally, but the Longhorns will suffer at least one other loss this regular season, if not two.

11. Oregon: A down year by Oregon's current standards, the Ducks still splash land into the CFP.

12. South Florida: The nation was impressed by what it did to Group of Six powerhouse Boise State on Thursday.

Notre Dame's College Football Playoff Outlook:

It's wild to think that only a few short years ago, Notre Dame's loss to Miami would have ended its dreams of the College Football Playoff. The expanded playoff means more spots and it means Notre Dame still has all its preseason goals ahead of it.

As favorable as the schedule is, Notre Dame needs to get their line issues on both sides fixed quickly as Texas A&M comes to South Bend on September 13. The outlook for Notre Dame's CFP chances remains strong, but improvements need to be made in urgent fashion in preparing for Texas A&M.