The US LBM Coaches Poll No. 6 Notre Dame is coming off a bye week and is now set to face Navy on Saturday.
ESPN’s Heather Dinich revealed her College Football Playoff projections after Week 8, and the Fighting Irish (6-1) are at No. 5, just outside the bye range. Dinich’s projected top-four seeds are Miami, Ohio State, Georgia and BYU.
“The Irish are stuck behind BYU because of the head-to-head loss, as close as it was,” Dinich explained. “Notre Dame's season-opening win continues to gain value, as Wisconsin handled USC on Saturday to improve to 5-2. Of the three comparable teams – Notre Dame, BYU and Georgia – Notre Dame's scoring defense (13.4 points per game) is by far the best. Georgia, though, has the best scoring offense of the three at 43
points per game.”
Dinich noted that Notre Dame could be lower due to the lack of multiple wins against above-.500 teams.
“North Carolina and Wisconsin are the only teams above .500 that Notre Dame has beaten,” Dinich said. “The other teams it has defeated are a combined 10-21. The Irish also lost the only game they played against a ranked opponent, and though the game went down to the wire, Notre Dame had to battle to have a chance. The stingy Irish defense allowed BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier to complete 72% of his passes in the first half when Notre Dame fell behind by 11 points.”
Dinich noted that the Irish’s Nov. 7 game against Miami will be “the season-defining moment for the Irish,” but the CFP selection committee will also keep an eye on how the Irish do against No. 16 SMU on Nov. 21.
“The Mustangs have won four straight and just hammered Cal, 59-20,” Dinich said. “If they can keep it up, Notre Dame could have two more chances to impress the committee against ranked opponents – or two more ways to tumble out.”
🚨 Your Week 8 top 12 is out! 🚨⬇️
— Heather Dinich (@CFBHeather) October 25, 2026
https://t.co/shNyWrACKy
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This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: Notre Dame remains outside of ESPN’s top-4 post-Week 8 CFP projections
