Notre Dame vs. Ohio State Projected To Meet In Latest Bowl Projections

ESPN analysts have Notre Dame projected to play Ohio State in the College Football Playoff in the latest bowl projections

After its 47-40 victory over Clemson, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are now projected to the College Football Playoff by all 16 writers and analysts at ESPN.

College football writers Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach make bowl projections each week, and for the first time they both have the Irish in the playoff. All 14 ESPN writers that also make CFP picks each week also had the Irish in the CFP for the first time.

All but Adam Rittenberg had Notre Dame as the two or three seed. Sam Khan Jr., Chris Low and Schlabach all had the Irish as a two seed. Everyone but Rittenberg had Notre Dame slated to face the Ohio State Buckeyes in the semi-final game. Rittenberg had the Irish in a semi-final matchup against Alabama.

Bonagura had Notre Dame set to play Alabama last week, but now he has the Irish squaring off against Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. Notre Dame, of course, has not played in the Rose Bowl since Jan. 1, 1925. Head coach Knute Rockne led Notre Dame to a 27-10 win over Pop Warner’s Stanford squad.

Schlabach has Notre Dame set to face Alabama in the Sugar Bowl in the semi-final in one article, but he has the Irish against the Buckeyes in another.

Notre Dame and Ohio State last played in the Fiesta Bowl following the 2015 season. The Buckeyes won that game by a 44-28 score.

Low had Notre Dame all the way up to No. 2 in his weekly power rankings. Here is what he wrote about the Irish:

“OK, maybe Notre Dame isn't an ACC team in the purest sense, but the Irish are this season, and they took down the ACC's version of Goliath on Saturday in a 47-40 win over Clemson in two overtimes. It was the kind of signature win Brian Kelly's club had been looking for and ended a 28-game winning streak by Clemson over ACC opponents. The Irish might have to beat the Tigers again to win the ACC championship and possibly get to the College Football Playoff, but there's no doubting now that Notre Dame belongs in that elite category after making one clutch play after another to send the Tigers packing.”

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