Surprising New Outlook Boosts Notre Dame’s Playoff Hopes

Tuesday night didn't appear to bring good news for Notre Dame as the Fighting Irish fell from No. 9 to No. 10 in the College Football Playoff rankings despite cruising to an easy victory at Stanford.

The win was Notre Dame's tenth-straight after starting 0-2, but was also not enough to hold off Alabama, who bumped the Irish in the poll, despite barely getting by Auburn (5-7) on Saturday.

With Notre Dame at No. 10 now, the fear is that if it ranks next to Miami, the committee will bump the Irish out of its way because of the head-to-head meeting back in August.

That's a growing fear across Notre Dame land, but is it perhaps just some talking heads trying to speak it into existence? One outlet seems to suggest that may in fact be the case.

Betting Odds Still Favor Notre Dame to Make College Football Playoff

Despite the shift in the rankings on Tuesday, as of Wednesday night Notre Dame is still favored to end up making the College Football Playoff.

According to Fan Duel Sportsbook, Notre Dame has -355 betting odds to earn a spot in the College Football Playoff, and +270 odds to miss the dance.

For the non-betting group of college football fans, that simply means you have to risk $355 to make $100 on a bet for Notre Dame to make it, while you risking $100 would pay $270 in winnings if the Irish don't end up making it.

This is completely different than what much of the narrative going around is, and the betting public has jumped on this. Earlier on Tuesday, the odds were closer to -400 for Notre Dame to make the CFP and money has clearly come in saying the Irish won't be dancing.

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Takeaway:

The part I find interesting about this is that those who set the lines are looking for an even amount of money to be bet on both sides in order to get their cut and move on automatically.

However, there is no way this line gets posted without the sports books having an excellent idea that the money is going to come in on Notre Dame missing the CFP.

When the rankings came out on Tuesday night, my very first thought was that Notre Dame was cooked. Am I right or did I fall for the trap?

It can be argued day and night that Miami beat Notre Dame head-to-head, and I fully understand that. Anyone who pays close attention to college football for any length of time knows though that historically, who you lose to matters perhaps more than anything (which should make Alabama a bubble team if we're being honest).

The College Football Playoff committee waiting over a month to say that matters would certainly be a bold choice, especially after a weekend that neither of the two teams plays in.

Either Notre Dame is getting in the playoff, or there is a lot of money to be made out there at the expense of the Fighting Irish.