Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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4 NOV. 15, 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED I n all ways, the independent football island that Notre Dame lives on will always provide the program a unique criteria list when chasing down a place in the College Football Playoff, detached from the rest of the NCAA mainland. Power Four teams enjoy a more tangible playoff checklist that in- c l u d e s f i n a l l ea g u e s ta n d i n gs, strength of conference rankings and a championship game to help show- case their postseason profiles. While for Notre Dame, without an undefeated regular season, its play- off hopes will always hinge on more subjective metrics, such as margin of victory, late-season performance and, fair or not, style points. That's why even after a 25-10 win over Boston College Nov. 1 — a sixth straight victory for the Irish — Notre Dame was left with no choice but to leave that game thinking, "not good enough," if it's going to protect playoff hopes moving forward. The Irish checked in at No. 10 in the first CFP rankings released Nov. 4. Tenth was a safe and solid ranking for Notre Dame if it plays well and wins out the rest of November. It's also a precari- ous one if the Irish don't better pass the eye test in the way it failed to against Boston College. When the first rankings were released, CFP committee chair Mack Rhoades repeatedly referenced how steady im- provement down the season's stretch and eye-test analysis will remain im- portant evaluation points when select- ing and seeding the 12 playoff teams. "When we look at the tape, we think Notre Dame is a really solid football team, both sides of the ball," Rhoades explained of slotting the Irish as the highest-ranked two-loss team in the first poll. That said, Notre Dame doesn't neces- sarily control its own destiny. Plenty of work remains and style points to gain if the Irish are going to keep No. 11 Texas and No. 12 Oklahoma from leapfrogging them before the playoff field is officially announced Dec. 7. Texas (7-2) finishes its season with games at Georgia (Nov. 15), Arkansas (Nov. 22) and Texas A&M (Nov. 28). Oklahoma (7-2) finishes its season with games at Alabama (Nov. 15), Missouri (Nov. 22) and LSU (Nov. 29). A lot of conference cannibalism can and will shake the rankings up in weeks to come. But given the quality of re- maining schedules for Texas and Okla- homa, compared to Notre Dame's, if ei- ther or both of these two SEC members win out, Notre Dame can't necessarily rely on looking disinterested and sliding by inferior opponents for CFP inclusion in the way it did against Boston College. Instead, it needs to emphasize winning with style, for all four quarters. The Irish finish the regular season against Pittsburgh, No. 24 in the CFP rankings, (Nov. 15), Syracuse (Nov. 22) and Stanford (Nov. 29), providing three opportunities for Notre Dame to win and win impressively. Freeman has talked often this season about Notre Dame being its own worst enemy. And Boston College was a snap- shot of his concern. "We are evaluated based on results. I am, and our coaches are, and our players are," Freeman said. "We have to continue to enhance, change and configure that plan so that the results can be better than they were [against Boston College]." Overall, the statistical profile for Notre Dame looks good so far for when the playoff committee evaluates its résumé. The Irish headed into the Navy game Nov. 8 ranked No. 6 in scoring margin at 17.5 points a game, even after an 0-2 start. In other "style" statistics, Notre Dame last week ranked 14th in scor- ing offense with 37.4 points a game. After a tough start this season in pass coverage, it also led the nation with 16 interceptions. In addition, its two losses came in early September by a total four points against Miami and Texas A&M, two teams still vying for a CFP spot, to varying degrees. "The committee felt strongly," Rhoades added, "that Notre Dame is a team that when you look at Week 1 to now, it's a team that has im- proved, has gotten better, particularly when we think about defensively." A No. 10 CFP ranking is a good start- ing point for Notre Dame. According to The Athletic, that rat- ing gave the Irish an 81 percent chance of making the playoff field before the Navy game. Ironically, 10th is where the Fighting Irish debuted in the CFP poll last season before making their run to national runner-up. But again, without more November improvement and inspired play, nothing is guaranteed for the Irish. Notre Dame won its four November games last sea- son by an average of 29.8 points. While a similar finish isn't necessarily man- datory this time around, the selection committee made it clear that a strong and stylish November will matter heav- ily when sifting through playoff con- tenders to form its field. "We have to clean up a lot of the play. We're beating Notre Dame," Freeman explained. "… And as you move farther in the month of November, everything is magnified." Freeman's is an important message that can't be forgotten in one of the most unpredictable college football sea- sons in recent memory. ✦ Notre Dame's 25-10 win over a 1-7 Boston College team did not meet the eye test needed to reach the College Football Playoff. PHOTO BY NICK GRACE Todd D. Burlage has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 2005. He can be reached at tburlage@blueandgold.com. UPON FURTHER REVIEW TODD D. BURLAGE Style Points With No Slip-Ups Are Playoff Push Keys