Notre Dame College Football Playoff Projections: Where will the Irish be seeded on Selection Sunday?

After a wild Championship Saturday, No. 4 Notre Dame’s seed and draw in the 2024 College Football Playoff is as uncertain as it could possibly be.

The Irish could be seeded anywhere from No. 5 to No. 7. Possible opponents include Indiana, SMU, Alabama, Arizona State and Clemson. Any of them would travel to South Bend for their first-round matchup.

Here’s where the experts have the Irish entering Selection Sunday. Several projections do not provide analysis, but we’ve included said analysis from the ones that do.

On3: No. 6 seed, vs. SMU

“The Fighting Irish have the worst loss of anyone on this list (Northern Illinois), but it’s the only game they lost. They have the same best win as Texas (Texas A&M). Why would the committee put Notre Dame above Texas? Probably the 49-14 win against the same Army team that ran its record to 11-1 with a 35-14 win against Tulane on Friday in the American Athletic Conference title game.” — Andy Staples

ESPN (Heather Dinich): No. 7 seed, vs. Indiana

“The independent Irish are a lock for the playoff and have likely secured a first-round home game, but because they didn’t have a conference championship game, nothing happened for them to usurp any of the teams above them. While Notre Dame has a better record than the top two-loss teams, the Irish are still weighed down by one of the worst losses in the country, to unranked Northern Illinois. The Irish beat Texas A&M and now have a win against American Athletic Conference champion Army, which the committee ranked last week, but the update in résumé won’t be enough for a promotion in the committee meeting room.” — Dinich

NBC Sports: No. 6 seed, vs. Clemson

“The Fighting Irish suffered the worst loss of any CFP contender all the way back in Week 2, a home loss to Northern Illinois of the Mid-American Conference. But then they went out and won 10 games in a row, many of those victories coming in dominating fashion (including a 49-14 win over currently ranked Army, which went on to win the AAC championship game). Notre Dame outscored opponents this season 478-163, and the Irish rank third in the nation in ESPN’s game-control metric.

“Notre Dame’s elite defense and electric rushing attack have impressed the selection committee to the point that the NIU loss was essentially a non-factor in the group’s late-season evaluation of this team. The Irish will host a first-round game in South Bend. And I think they’ll be ahead of the SEC runner-up without any marquee wins on its resume. The committee values dominance and consistency, and Notre Dame has proven it can be both.” — Nicole Auerbach

CBS Sports: No. 7 seed, vs. Indiana

“Texas should not suffer too badly after the loss, however. I expect the Longhorns to stay ahead of Notre Dame for the No. 5 spot in the rankings and earn the 5-seed in the field. Typically, teams that lose competitive conference championship games to lower-ranked teams do not suffer too badly when the final rankings are released, but the Longhorns lost as the higher-ranked team. Georgia will, of course, jump them, but there is no real reason for Texas to fall behind the other teams below them.

Penn State is projected to slot in at No. 4 in the rankings and host a first-round game as a 6-seed following the loss to Oregon. The Nittany Lions only lose a spot because Georgia jumped them.” — Jerry Palm

Yahoo Sports: No. 5 seed, vs. SMU

DraftKings: No. 6 seed, vs. Clemson

The Athletic: No. 7 seed, vs. Indiana

ESPN (Kyle Bonagura): No. 5 seed, vs. Clemson

ESPN (Mark Schlabach): No. 7 seed, vs. Indiana

USA TODAY Sports: No. 5 seed, vs. Clemson

Bleacher Report: No. 7 seed, vs. Indiana