Will Notre Dame reach the College Football Playoff? CFB writers offer their takes

Notre Dame's back is already against the wall just two games into the 2025 season.

The Fighting Irish, the No. 6 team in the Associated Press' preseason poll, has gotten off to a slow start. They opened the campaign at Hard Rock Stadium, where they fell 27-24 to then-No. 10 Miami; last weekend, they suffered a dramatic 41-40 defeat to then-No. 16 Texas A&M in South Bend.

Now 0-2 and sitting 24th in the most recent AP poll, Notre Dame finds itself in a dangerous position with 10 regular-season games remaining on its schedule, as its margin for error has been reduced to near zero.

Despite that, two veteran college football reporters — The Athletic's Stewart Mandel and Athlon Sports' Kyle Wood — remain optimistic about the Fighting Irish's chances of reaching the College Football Playoff this year.

"If the Irish run the table, they will be in the Playoff. Period. As you saw last season, there is not likely to be some huge surplus of 10-2 teams fighting for the last spot. The two 10-2 power conference teams to be left out last year were Miami and BYU, which both lost two of their last three. Heck, Ohio State went 10-2, with a bad loss in its last game, and still finished No. 6 in the rankings," Mandel wrote. "Whereas Notre Dame would be on a 10-game winning streak, having not lost since mid-September, and the two losses may well be against fellow Playoff teams. The Irish would be in comfortably."

"If we hadn’t seen almost this exact story unfold last season, I would be ready to all but write off the Fighting Irish as College Football Playoff contenders," Wood wrote. "But last year did happen, so I’m not ruling anything out until — or if — Notre Dame loses again."

Steven Lassan, Wood's colleague at Athlon Sports, was a little less bullish on Notre Dame's postseason chances.

"There’s no shame in losing to Miami and Texas A&M — two top-10 teams in the Associated Press Top 25 — by a combined four points. So even at 0-2, Notre Dame is definitely not out of the College Football Playoff mix," Lassan wrote. "However, I’m not optimistic that this team can run the table and get into the 12-team field."

All three cited their doubts surrounding Notre Dame's ability to accomplish the feat, most of which boiled down to the team's poor play on defense and lack of marquee opponents on its remaining schedule.

• Mandel: "The more pertinent question is whether they can actually win 10 straight games, even against what could be a modestly difficult schedule (at Arkansas, Boise State, NC State, USC). The answer: Not if they keep playing defense the way they did against Miami and Texas A&M. The Irish are allowing 8.4 yards per pass attempt, ranked 114th out of 136 teams. And they have one sack. Proven cornerback Christian Gray keeps getting smoked. And boy do they miss last year’s D-line."
• Lassan: "Through two games, it’s clear the Fighting Irish are not as strong on defense as they were last season. Freeman’s group has registered just one sack and ranks No. 107 nationally in defensive success rate — a steep drop from the No. 27 mark posted in ’24. ... The schedule isn’t daunting. However, if the defense doesn’t improve, Arkansas, NC State, USC, Navy, and Pitt will have no trouble moving the ball in upcoming matchups."
• Wood: "At this point, résumé is a real concern. And as much as observers bristle at the idea of a quality loss, the Miami and Texas A&M games were just that: One-possession games against good — potentially playoff-bound — teams. But the Irish still need to win the rest of their games and hope a fringe top-25 team like NC State or Navy has a number next to its name when they play later in the year."

The Fighting Irish will have their next opportunity to quell some of those doubts — and return to the win column — when they take on Purdue this upcoming Saturday.