2025 hasn't exactly been too kind to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in terms of college football, despite the team being 12 points away from being national champions.
After that, showdown against Ohio State to end the 2024 season, the Irish opened up the following season with late losses to the Miami Hurricanes and Texas A&M Aggies, sending their playoff chances plummeting not even a month into the season.
However, one college football analyst still has faith in Marcus Freeman's team and believes that they still have a chance to make the field of 12 in the College Football Playoff at the conclusion of the regular season.
Joel Klatt Still Dubs the Fighting Irish as a CFP Contender
In his assessment of four teams that he labeled either as contenders or pretenders, former Colorado quarterback Joel Klatt was still a firm believer that Notre Dame could win out for the rest of the season and still find themselves in the championship hunt, as long as the Hurricanes and the Aggies continue to win as well.
“I think they win ten straight. I think that they do. I think they get back into the race. They just need, they really need, Texas A&M and Miami to continue to win,” said Klatt.
Will it be tough for the team to accomplish? Very much so, even though they have already achieved one of those needed wins in a 56-30 onslaught against the Purdue Boilermakers, but even still, winning 10 straight games is much easier said than done, especially in today's game.
However, outside of Arkansas this weekend, and maybe the USC Trojans on October 18, there's not much competition for Notre Dame, as none of the rest of their schedule is currently ranked at this point in time.
So, barring an upset by one of the remaining teams, this could be a better look than many expect for the national champion runners-up.
Difficult? Yes. Impossible? Not at all.