2025 CFB Polls and Rankings

[InKellyWeTrust]

I think the committee has consistently rewarded the "eye test". If ND is playing like one of the top 12 teams in the country, I believe the rest will take care of itself.

 

[irish2104]

Plus it really helps that we were in the natty last year…

 

[NDPhilly]

Personally don’t see any path to the playoff.


I know I’m wrong, but there will be too many teams that finish with 2 or less losses that have at least one marquee win, and then you will also have Penn State’s obligatory free pass.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The path is that we are one of the three biggest TV draws in the sport and if Disney can get away with putting us in, they will. It’s fucked up but it’s very clear through realignment and playoff expansion that dollars matter. This is entertainment at the end of the day.

 

[SportsingHard]

ND barely edging Illinois in both polls.

 

[stlnd01]

Looking ahead, we're gonna need a lot of help to make the playoffs. We would absolutely argue that PSU/IU shouldn't make it at 10-2 if they lost to the only two good teams they faced, and IU already has a better victory than we could possibly have given the rest of our schedule.

USC hosting Mich next week is basically the equivalent to a must win for us. At best, they could finish 9-3 this season (losses to us and Oregon), which might not even get them ranked at season end. Personally, I still am not gonna root for that. They can beat Mich (lessor of two evils), but then i hope they finish 6-6 or worse.

There's nothing we can do but keep winning, in the most resounding fashion possible. I have zero faith in USC, and I'm not sure a win over the like #22 team will make any difference for us regardless.

I think we make it if we win out, but a pileup of 10-2 teams from the B1G and SEC could be a problem. IU, Penn State, A&M, LSU, Ole Miss. You could see them boxing us out even though we probably beat most of them most of the time.

 

[NDPhilly]

According to Sargarin, we’d only be a 3.5pt dog to OSU on a neutral field, the current #1. They certainly think a lot of us.

We’re also tied for 11th in title odds on draftkings despite already having 2 losses.

 

[IrishTusker]

Looking ahead, we're gonna need a lot of help to make the playoffs. We would absolutely argue that PSU/IU shouldn't make it at 10-2 if they lost to the only two good teams they faced, and IU already has a better victory than we could possibly have given the rest of our schedule.

USC hosting Mich next week is basically the equivalent to a must win for us. At best, they could finish 9-3 this season (losses to us and Oregon), which might not even get them ranked at season end. Personally, I still am not gonna root for that. They can beat Mich (lessor of two evils), but then i hope they finish 6-6 or worse.

I don't recall tons of people arguing that PSU shouldn't be in, I think people were surprised they got basically the easiest first two draws. The point is that they got in, whatever anyone thought about it.

 

[Bane]

I don't recall tons of people arguing that PSU shouldn't be in, I think people were surprised they got basically the easiest first two draws. The point is that they got in, whatever anyone thought about it.

Exactly. I never argued PSU shouldn't make it last year, but I livid that they were seeded ahead of us and got an auto bye to the semis.

 

[IrishLax]

According to Sargarin, we’d only be a 3.5pt dog to OSU on a neutral field, the current #1. They certainly think a lot of us.

We’re also tied for 11th in title odds on draftkings despite already having 2 losses.

 

[NDPhilly]

For those out of the loop - Sargarin is generally the most accurate “predictive ranking” of all the computer polls. It mirrors vegas’ internal power rankings incredibly well.

It also believed in us more than most of the computer polls last year and ended up being dead right.

 

[phillyirish]

Exactly. I never argued PSU shouldn't make it last year, but I livid that they were seeded ahead of us and got an auto bye to the semis.

I don't recall tons of people arguing that PSU shouldn't be in, I think people were surprised they got basically the easiest first two draws. The point is that they got in, whatever anyone thought about it.

I said we would, not that we did. Both teams only had a single regular season loss last year.

All we can do is win our games, but the point is that we don't control our destiny. Gonna need a lot of chaos to avoid a 2019 type situation, where after our 2nd loss we won out 6 straight to only move up 2 places in the polls, from #16-14. And that included a win over a ranked opponent who finished the season ranked, something that looks very unlikely as happening for us the rest of the way this year.

 

[Guyjin37]

We're at 21 and we have 2 months to move into the top 12. If we win--especially in the fashion we have been as of late--we will be in.

 

[Bane]

We're at 21 and we have 2 months to move into the top 12. If we win--especially in the fashion we have been as of late--we will be in.

Not to mention, these polls out right and 2 bucks will get you a cup of coffee. The real poll comes in a few weeks. Just keep going 1-0.

 

[SportsingHard]

Not sure if it's clear to all IE readers, but as Twitter comments pointed out, this is actually Sagarin, too.

 

[NDWarrior]

Tbh, I just don't see any dominant team out there this year, and so as a result, there should be a lot of SEC beating SEC, B1G beating B1G, and Big12 beating Big12, leaving a lot of 10-2 and 9-3 teams, so it should be wide open, after the cc auto bids, and as NPhilly stated, this is entertainment at the end of the day.

I believe it will absolutely be about for the playoff committee how is a team trending and to what level is it dominating going into the last few weeks.

We do have one pretty big negative - no conference championship - but if we can continue to hammer teams right up until (and especially at) the end (since we end the season with lesser opponents), and if we do that with a fun, flashy offense with featured super stars, and a much improved D, along with the ND brand, we should make it in, even if it's just sneaking in at #12!

Now that's a lot of what ifs and it's still a long season, so one game at a time...

 

[NDpendent]

Friendly reminder we lost to the #3 and #6 team in the country by a combined 4 points

 

[CTIDANDREW]

Totally understand the fascination with the AP poll for nostalgic reasons, but power rankings like below are really what we need to be paying attention to over the next few months. This type of data is what the committee "should" be using for thier decision making, not what a bunch of reporters say weekly.

We desperately need either Navy, USC, or Boise State to run the table other then losing to us to help with a marquee win.
Regardless, if we stay in the top 8 of this type of ranking all year I would find it very hard to believe we get left out.

Hopefully Arkansas firing Pittman can help them win (6) games this year, because in the end that could be a little helpful for us.
They're still a top (40) power ranked team, according to FPI, but destroying them on the road gets us very little credit as of right now.
Just keep winning, and we will see what happens.
We got ourselves into this mess, now the leaders on this team need to know we must win convincingly for the next (8) weeks to get us out of it.
Beating the Vegas line by 4+ TD's against an SEC opponent on the road is a great start!

 

[NDFAN2008]

I wonder how much of a factor it will be that we basically got robbed on the last play of the game against A&M shoulda been a holding penatly

 

[ab2cmiller]

I wonder how much of a factor it will be that we basically got robbed on the last play of the game against A&M shoulda been a holding penatly

None. I see no scenario where the committee takes into consideration one wrong call, even if it did happen at the end of the game.

 

[SoIll]

Friendly reminder we lost to the #3 and #6 team in the country by a combined 4 points

unfortunately A&M is not truly the #6 team in America. Simply aren't that good.

 

[TracyGraham]

unfortunately A&M is not truly the #6 team in America. Simply aren't that good.

Kinda agree, but if they aren't who is? I'm not seeing a ton of clearly dominant top 10 teams so far this year. Up to this point of the year, at least they beat us......

 

[IRISHDODGER]

My man looks like he hit a few rails of Bolivian marching powder

 

[Huntr]

PSU alum Adam Breneman knew what he was doing when he posted that clip. 🤣

 

[NDWarrior]

Everything he states here is accurate, but it can unfold exactly as he states it will need to for ND to have a more likely path to get into the CFB (assuming we win out):
Forde-Yard Dash: The Obstacles Notre Dame Has to Clear in Order to Make the CFP

"The path to the playoff (for ND) is likely as follows: finish 10–2 and pummel everyone on the way; root for Miami and Texas A&M to remain strong; root for USC to rebound; root for losses to pile up in the Big Ten and SEC for potential contenders. Chaos and parity would be two-loss Notre Dame’s best friends in any playoff scenario."

I do believe there is a lot more parity and no one is dominating this year, so we still have a good chance, again, assuming we win out.

One game at a time...

 

[NumbersGuy0520]

FanDuel now has:

Notre Dame to make the playoffs: +132
Notre Dame to not make the playoffs: -162

Still an uphill battle. Pummel the Broncos.

 

[SportsingHard]

Everything he states here is accurate, but it can unfold exactly as he states it will need to for ND to have a more likely path to get into the CFB (assuming we win out):
Forde-Yard Dash: The Obstacles Notre Dame Has to Clear in Order to Make the CFP

"The path to the playoff (for ND) is likely as follows: finish 10–2 and pummel everyone on the way; root for Miami and Texas A&M to remain strong; root for USC to rebound; root for losses to pile up in the Big Ten and SEC for potential contenders. Chaos and parity would be two-loss Notre Dame’s best friends in any playoff scenario."

I do believe there is a lot more parity and no one is dominating this year, so we still have a good chance, again, assuming we win out.

One game at a time...

One redditor said, after the polls came out, there is really #1 Ohio State, #2 Oregon, and a 15-way tie for third place. That sounds about right to me.

 

[stlnd01]

Everything he states here is accurate, but it can unfold exactly as he states it will need to for ND to have a more likely path to get into the CFB (assuming we win out):
Forde-Yard Dash: The Obstacles Notre Dame Has to Clear in Order to Make the CFP

"The path to the playoff (for ND) is likely as follows: finish 10–2 and pummel everyone on the way; root for Miami and Texas A&M to remain strong; root for USC to rebound; root for losses to pile up in the Big Ten and SEC for potential contenders. Chaos and parity would be two-loss Notre Dame’s best friends in any playoff scenario."

I do believe there is a lot more parity and no one is dominating this year, so we still have a good chance, again, assuming we win out.

One game at a time...

The trouble for us will be if there's a pileup of 10-2 teams from the B1G and SEC, which could definitely happen with the likes of Penn State, Indiana, LSU, Ole Miss, Bama, etc. They'll have the same record as us and in most cases a better best win, plus conference backing. We might be better off if there are several undefeateds and then those sort of teams at 9-3 (or worse).

But, all we can do is roll to another eight convincing victories. The good news is we could be double-digit favorites in every game we play the rest of the season.

 

[FWIrish4]

The trouble for us will be if there's a pileup of 10-2 teams from the B1G and SEC, which could definitely happen with the likes of Penn State, Indiana, LSU, Ole Miss, Bama, etc. They'll have the same record as us and in most cases a better best win, plus conference backing. We might be better off if there are several undefeateds and then those sort of teams at 9-3 (or worse).

But, all we can do is roll to another eight convincing victories. The good news is we could be double-digit favorites in every game we play the rest of the season.

Agreed.

We really needed the following to happen last weekend for our domino effect:
- GA beat ALA to give ALA two early losses and another bound to happen at some point.
- Wake to beat GA Tech - people talk about our schedule….sheesh they play no one so idk if they’re gonna get to 9-3?
- Iowa hold on to beat IU. Even if IU loses to Penn St and Oregon, they’re 10-2 like you mentioned.
- USC to beat Illinois (I know, I know). But it would have given Illinois 2 early losses, hurt IU’s best win and would keep USC ranked for our SOS.

 

[tko]

Beat Boise to go 1-0.

 

[DillonHall]

Amazing how the tables have turned. We may have to hope that the "eye test" favors us