If ND goes undefeated, there is nothing to worry about. It's true this year and every year. An undefeated ND won't be passed up by FOUR other teams by the selection committee (99% of the time, at least).
The issue I'm concerned about is 1-loss (or 2, depending on the year and other teams in contention). It's still tough to believe ND will go undefeated (not because they aren't good or can't beat every team left on their schedule...but because it's so tough to go undefeated). At this point, I think we, as ND fans, should hope for further cannibalization in the sec west and for the pac-12 to do well, but everybody have 2 or 3 losses.
The sec is going to get every benefit of the doubt. So maybe we should want, say, auburn to win out and leave every other sec team with 2-losses. The fewer 1-loss teams that are out there, the better the chances are for ND to make the playoff. I would be shocked if the Mississippi schools don't finish without at least 2 losses, a piece, or for a&m to not lose again. Utah and Arizona's wins this week, while exciting and helping to ease the path for ND climbing in the rankings, may actually turn out to hurt ND in the long run. We need Stanford, usc, and asu all to be good teams.
**Quick sidenote-- We've heard for years, in defense of others, how when it comes to rankings, the quality of loss matters. It mattered in the rankings with ND last year losing to Pitt. It certainly mattered when Oklahoma State lost to Iowa State. How bout Georgia being ranked as high as they are...with a loss to 3-loss south carolina?? Pathetic.
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