Notre Dame Nation Anxiously Awaits First CFP Ranking Reveal

Will the Irish land inside the top 12 in the first College Football Playoff rankings?

Oct 4, 2025; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame head football coach Marcus Freeman adjusts his radio against the Boise State Broncos at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images | Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

Why the initial CFP rankings are so important

After a quickly moving first couple of months of the college football season, the initial CFP rankings will be revealed Tuesday night on ESPN. For a team like Notre Dame, with two early losses, the intrigue is off the charts regarding the Irish's initial ranking.

The first CFP ranking and the last are clearly the most important. As for the initial rankings, they are critical because they provide the first look into the committee's selection process. You will find out what they value, who it favors or hurts, and why.

Notre Dame finds itself in a very interesting position. The Irish's resume is very much in the eye of the beholder. How costly will the two early losses be? How impressive does the committee think Notre Dame's wins have been? How does the committee view two-loss Notre Dame vs two-loss Miami, who beat the Irish? Nobody knows, but we are about to find out.

If the CFP rankings shadow the Coaches and AP poll, Notre Dame nation will be pleased with the initial brackets that have the Irish in the 10th position. If the committee has the Irish much lower than this, Notre Dame will need more help to make the field throughout the rest of November.

One and only 🫶

Jeremiyah Love is the first player in Notre Dame history with two 90-yard rushing touchdowns in a career ☘️🫶#GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/5yzKg5OCVE

— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) November 2, 2025

Notre Dame has a great chance to win out

Regardless of where Notre Dame lands in Tuesday night's reveal, the Irish have a very manageable schedule the rest of the way. They will be favored over Navy, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, and Stanford. While each of these games should be logged in the win column, some "pretty points", the kind Notre Dame didn't rack up against Boston College, would be very helpful for the cause.

All of this stress and anxiety about the rankings, and the commensurate scoreboard watching as teams jockey for position, is exactly why Notre Dame cannot afford to not control its own destiny by losing multiple games.

This needs to be the next evolution of Notre Dame under Marcus Freeman. Getting to November with CFP wiggle room to play with, something the program has not had in the last two seasons.

The odds of a team like Notre Dame winning 10 regular-season games in a row like it did last year and is on track to do this year are rare. Notre Dame cannot live this way yearly and expect good results; the odds are simply against it working out.

As for now, the nation waits to see what teams the powers that be currently favor, and from there, all Notre Dame can do is win four more games and see where the chips fall.