Notre Dame’s Blowout Win: Will It Boost College Football Playoff Ranking?

You can watch football for decades and not see anything quite like what No. 9 Notre Dame (9-2) did to Syracuse (3-8) on Saturday.

Notre Dame scored three touchdowns in the first 5:10 of the game, but didn't run a single offensive play to accomplish the feat. A pick-six, blocked punt return for a touchdown, and a second pick-six gave Notre Dame a 21-0 lead before its offense took a single snap.

What came of the historic start was a 70-7 Notre Dame victory, a number the Fighting Irish haven't put up in a single game since the 1932 opener against mighty Haskell, a game the Irish won 73-0.

On a week that lacked many compelling games let alone upsets, Notre Dame was as impressive as anyone. Will that help Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish when the College Football Playoff rankings are updated on Tuesday?

Predicting the Updated College Football Playoff Rankings

If we can be honest for a second, let's admit what needs to be admitted about college football in Week 13.

It's lame.

Extremely lame.

The SEC has its unofficial bye week as the majority of the conference goes on hiatus from competitive football and welcomes a no-name to town ahead of rivalry week, next week.

The Big Ten lacking depth and the ACC and Big 12 both being exceptionally average mean for a relatively calm Week 13.

As a result, the Northwestern vs. Minnesota and Duke vs. North Carolina games wound up being the most entertaining of the weekend.

So what does it all mean for Notre Dame in regards to the College Football Playoff rankings?

Well, one thing is for sure. Notre Dame won't move down following its destruction of Syracuse. I don't know if routing a now 3-8 team is worthy of moving up, even if it was 70-7 against a Power Four foe, but nobody in their right mind can move Notre Dame down following that.

So go ahead and pencil in Notre Dame at No. 9 again this week, with perhaps an outside chance of it passing Oklahoma for No. 8, but overall the Sooners' resume still trumps Notre Dame's even if the Sooners were rather "meh" in their win over Missouri.

Predicting the College Football Rankings on Tuesday

Here's a quick look at what my guess is for the College Football Playoff rankings to be when they're officially updated on Tuesday night:

1. Ohio State
2. Indiana
3. Texas A&M
4. Georgia
5. Texas Tech
6. Oregon (+1)
7. Ole Miss (-1)
8. Oklahoma
9. Notre Dame
10. Alabama
11. BYU
12. Miami (+1)
13. Utah (-1)
14. Texas (+3)
15. Vanderbilt (-1)
16. Michigan (+2)
17. Tennessee (+3)
18. Virginia (+1)
19. Tulane (+5)
20. USC (-5)
21. Pittsburgh (from unranked)
22. Arizona State (+3)
23. Georgia Tech (-7)
24. SMU (from unranked)
25. Navy (from unranked)

Biggest Takeaways:

If style points matter, which is debatable based on how the committee has acted, then Notre Dame almost has to move up. However, we're getting into the territory of Notre Dame and Miami being ranked very near each other. Perhaps BYU getting a tough win at Cincinnati on Saturday night was a good thing for the Irish, as it keeps Miami back a couple of spots.

How will the Hurricanes fare next week in Pittsburgh? The answer to that could hold the keys to determining just exactly where Notre Dame ultimately ends up being ranked in the CFP rankings this coming week and the two to follow.