Nov. 08--Notre Dame's matchup against Arizona State is just one of several marquee matchups in college football this weekend.
With the Irish sitting at No. 10 in the College Football Playoff rankings, it would obviously help their chances greatly if some teams ahead of them were to lose.
For some games, it's clear who Notre Dame fans should root for. The Irish should be pulling for No. 17 Utah (6-2) to knock off No.4 Oregon (8-1), for No. 16 LSU (7-2) to defeat No. 5 Alabama (7-1) and for No. 15 Oklahoma (6-2) to beat No. 12 Baylor (7-1). At the end of the season, the Irish want as few one-loss teams as possible muddying the playoff picture.
But then there are two games that feature one-loss teams squaring off against each other. Notre Dame should still have a rooting interest in those games, even though someone is guaranteed to emerge with two losses.
No. 7 Kansas State (7-1) at No. 6 TCU (7-1):
Notre Dame fans should be at full throat rooting for Kansas State in this game.
TCU has already faced the toughest stretch of its Big 12 schedule and posted wins over Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and No. 23 West Virginia. You could almost rubber stamp TCU with an 11-1 record at the end of the season should it beat the Wildcats this weekend because Texas, Kansas and Iowa State are the remaining opponents on TCU's schedule.
Kansas and Iowa State have yet to win a Big 12 game this season while Texas is 3-3 in conference. Notre Dame does not want to have to contend with the Horned Frogs if both end up 11-1. The committee might look more favorably on TCU given the number of quality wins it will pile up.
Kansas State, meanwhile, still has games at West Virginia and at Baylor remaining, meaning there's still plenty of time for the Wildcats to trip up if they win this game.
No. 14 Ohio State (7-1) at No. 8 Michigan State (7-1):
This one is a little more cut and dry since Ohio State already lags behind Notre Dame in the rankings but the Irish should hope for the Buckeyes to pull this one out Saturday.
Like Notre Dame, Ohio State does not own any wins against a top 25 team but Notre Dame's loss (a close defeat at No. 2 Florida State) looks much better than the Buckeyes' (at home by 14 to Virginia Tech). Ohio State also won't play another top 25 team likely until the Big Ten championship, meaning Notre Dame's 11-1 resume at the end of the season has a chance to outshine a 12-1 Ohio State team by a significant margin.
Michigan State meanwhile, has defeated No. 13 Nebraska and has a better loss than Ohio State (at No. 4 Oregon). Beating Ohio State and completing a Big Ten title run at 12-1 while possibly knocking off Nebraska again in the title game would make it hard for the committee to put Notre Dame ahead of the Spartans, even if Michigan State's nonconference schedule featured blowout wins over Wyoming, Jacksonville State and Eastern Michigan.
Of course, this all assumes the Irish defeat the Sun Devils. Should the Irish lose, Notre Dame fans can keep their pom-poms locked away in the basement.
