Notre Dame and Alabama could be on a collision course in the College Football Playoff // UHND.com

Based on the latest CFP rankings released Tuesday night, Notre Dame and Alabama could be on a collision course for a first-round matchup in South Bend. If the playoffs began today, based on the current standings, the two would face off at Notre Dame Stadium in the first-ever playoff game at the House That Rockne Built. Even if the Irish move up in the final rankings, the two could still face each other.

Notre Dame moved up to No. 4 in the most recent rankings, but sits at No. 6 as the top four spots go to the conference champions. Alabama moved up two spots to 11th this week after beating Auburn and is currently the final non-conference champion. The current 12th place is Arizona State – the current top-ranked Big 12 team.

Depending on how the committee responds to the conference championship games, Notre Dame could still improve its seeding. Penn State is currently the fifth seed and there has been a lot of debate about who is the better team between the Lions and Notre Dame, but as it is, the Irish are behind them and will likely only overtake them if they come from Oregon N the race will be thrown the Big Ten Championship.

While the Irish could overtake Penn State, they could also fall behind if Georgia beats Texas in the SEC Championship. The Irish would likely still fall behind the Longhorns, but also behind Georgia, with the Bulldogs getting a top-four spot and a first-round bye if they win the SEC. Should the Irish fall to 7th place with Penn State and Texas ahead of them, they would still host a first round playoff game, but would instead face 10th seed, currently scheduled to be Indiana.

Alabama, meanwhile, could still potentially be ousted if SMU loses a close game to Clemson in the ACC Championship. The Mustangs are currently ranked No. 8, but if they lose to Clemson in the ACC title game, the Tigers will receive an automatic ACC bid. It would be fascinating how the committee would view a two-loss SMU that lost its conference title game and a three-loss Alabama team that fell to 6-6 Oklahoma a few weeks ago.

Should Notre Dame move up to the No. 5 seed, it would be difficult for the Irish to draw Alabama since the Big 12 winner will likely be the No. 12 seed. Arizona State is currently ranked 15th and Iowa State is 16th. If the winner of this game beats the other, they might move up to 11th place, but that seems far-fetched. So if Texas beats Georgia and Oregon beats Penn State handily, Notre Dame would likely host the winner of that game unless it’s complete chaos and Boise State loses to UNLV.

Still, it seems like Notre Dame and Alabama could be on a collision course, considering the ratings that would drive it. It would be naive to think that the Committee would not also consider such matters – regardless of what it may or may not say about it.