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Newsstand: Where Notre Dame lands in latest Brett McMurphy College Football Playoff projection

Singer headshotby: Mike Singer13 hours agoMikeTSinger
CJ Carr
Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr. (Photo by Mike Miller/BGI)

On3’s Brett McMurphy published his college football bowl and playoff projections after Week 2, and despite Notre Dame playing in just one game — a loss for the Irish — his projection has the Irish firmly in the CFP.

It has the Irish in the 8-9 game as a road team against the Florida State Seminoles, a program that knocked off Alabama in Week 1.

He has the Irish knocking off Mike Norvell‘s squad for a playoff rematch with the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl. The Buckeyes are McMurphy’s current projected national champion, beating Miami in the title game.

See McMurphy’s full CFP projection below.

First Round (Dec. 19-20)
No. 12 USF at No. 5 Penn State
No. 9 Notre Dame at No. 8 Florida State
No. 11 Oklahoma at No. 6 Georgia
No. 10 Utah at No. 7 Texas

Quarterfinals
Cotton Bowl (Dec. 31)
AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas
No. 4 Oregon vs. No. 5 Penn State

Rose Bowl (Jan. 1, 2026)
Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, Calif.
No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 9 Notre Dame

Sugar Bowl (January 1, 2026)
Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, La.
No. 2 LSU vs. No. 7 Texas

Orange Bowl (Jan. 1, 2026)
Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.
No. 3 Miami vs. No. 6 Texas

Semifinals
Fiesta Bowl (Jan. 8, 2026)
State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 4 Oregon

Peach Bowl (Jan. 8, 2026)
Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga.
No. 2. LSU vs. No. 3 Miami

National Championship (Jan. 19, 2026)
Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.
No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 3 Miami (Ohio State winner)

Notre Dame tweets of the day

Quote of the day

“I think you guys have heard me speak enough. I look at every situation as a positive. And so how could we get a couple guys healthy, but also have some good on good periods where we’re not just game planning or doing scout work, and have some competitive opportunities where your ones are going against ones or twos, and we can play it. It wasn’t your typical game week practice where you’re doing a lot of scouted work. It was a lot of good on good practice reps.” 

— Irish head coach Marcus Freeman n the benefits of having a week two bye week after a Sunday game

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