Freeman touts Irish’s case: Who’s best right now?

STANFORD, Calif. — For Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman, there was no need for a passionate postgame pitch Saturday for why he believes the Irish belong in the College Football Playoff.

To him, Notre Dame’s inclusion is straightforward.

«Who are the best teams now?» Freeman said following Notre Dame’s 49-20 win against Stanford. «Not Week 1 — now. It’s hard to argue we aren’t one of those teams.»

Notre Dame was ranked No. 9 in this week’s playoff rankings, which coupled with the lopsided win against the Cardinal has the Irish (10-2) in a solid position with its regular season complete.

«You’re talking about a team that is playing as well as anyone right now,» Freeman said. «Won 10 straight games, all of them by double-digit points.»

Assuming there is no shuffling in the eight to 12 range — Oklahoma, Alabama, BYU and Miami all won this week — there appears to be only one scenario that could be problematic for the Irish.

If No. 10 Alabama (SEC) and No. 11 BYU (Big 12) win their conference title games, they would clinch playoff spots, leaving Notre Dame as possibly the first team out. In that scenario, Notre Dame would need to leapfrog some team it is currently ranked behind — likely No. 8 Oklahoma, which beat LSU 17-13 on Saturday.

It will also have to hope the committee doesn’t reevaluate its ranking of No. 12 Miami, which is also 10-2 and beat Notre Dame to start the season. Miami will not play for the ACC title, which instead will feature No. 18 Virginia (10-2) and unranked Duke (7-5).

Notre Dame has essentially been in playoff mode since September. It followed the loss to Miami with a one-point loss to Texas A&M, but the Irish have been dominant ever since.