Is South Bend Already Preparing for a CFP Game at Notre Dame Stadium?

It's SO early, but Irish fans are ready for a home College Football Playoff game

Apr 20, 2024; Notre Dame, IN, USA; Fans watch in the first half of the Blue-Gold game at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images | Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

Are Notre Dame fans getting ahead of themselves with excitement?

It's certainly possible that Notre Dame already played and won its toughest game of the year at Texas A&M last week.

This isn't a promise, its not a guarantee by any means, but it is a real possibility. After the biggest win of the Freeman era, ESPN's FPI calculations have produced a 22.4% chance of a 12-0 regular season, by far the highest odds in the country.

As soon as the Notre Dame Texas A&M game went final, something interesting happened in South Bend. Hotel prices for late December spiked to un "South Bend" like astronomical levels. Why might you ask? It's much more likely to me it has to do with the new CFP format than it does folks visiting Grandma for the holidays.

How confident are folks about Notre Dame hosting a 1st round game in the first iteration of the 12 Team College Football Playoff?

Check out the hotel scene around campus for that weekend in late December in Northern Indiana. pic.twitter.com/iv2BULJem1

— College Football Watcher (@CFBWatcher) September 3, 2024

Having this much confidence after one week could be very dangerous

I completely realize that fans think about things much differently than those within the actual football program do. That being said, I think it is quite telling just how much confidence the Irish faithful have in their team after seeing them play 1 game.

The first go-around of the new, expanded CFP is going to be a wildly entertaining experiment whether Notre Dame is a part of it or not. But by the looks of the local hotel prices, it seems like Irish nation is quite confident in playoff football being hosted in South Bend.

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