USC’s loss was the worst thing that could happen to Notre Dame’s playoff hopes.

Here’s a quick Friday night thought…

Following Notre Dame’s loss to Clemson, the Irish’s playoff hopes took a big hit. When USC went down at home to Washington 17-12 Thursday night, it put the playoff hopes of the Irish on life support.

Even if Notre Dame runs the schedule, they won’t face another ranked team (Stanford) until the end of the season, and they won’t have the benefit of a season ending conference championship game to make a final impression.

It’s the slippery slope of Notre Dame’s independent national schedule. The Irish certainly are already behind the 8-ball if Clemson wins out, and if Clemson is a 1 loss ACC Champion, it’s virtually impossible to imagine the Irish being taken over the Tigers. Now whether a 1 loss Tiger team makes the playoff is another question entirely, but Notre Dame won’t over take them. If head to head isn’t your first tie-breaker when selecting teams, then what other criteria makes sense?

The Irish’s schedule that now suddenly looks rather suspect. Does this mean that Notre Dame can’t get into playoff as 1 loss team? Sure the top teams across the country could lose multiple games, but the Irish won’t selected above any 1 loss or less Power 5 champion… not now. Notre Dame needs a ton of help to get back in the playoff race. Their schedule isn’t good enough to make up the ground.

If only Notre Dame was part of Power 5 conference (* wink * wink *), their playoff hopes wouldn’t be likely down the drain after 1 loss and 1 week into October.

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