ND FOOTBALL: With Freeman in place, will ND sneak into the CFP?

Dec. 4—SOUTH BEND — One of the oddest factors regarding former Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly's sudden departure from South Bend had to do with the current state of the team.

After winning seven straight games to finish the 2021 campaign at 11-1, the Fighting Irish — currently sitting at No. 6 in the College Football Playoff rankings — have put themselves in contention for the program's third CFP berth in its history with one weekend of football remaining before Sunday's bracket unveiling.

However, combining Notre Dame's loss of its head coach with Oklahoma State leapfrogging the Irish in the rankings after beating Oklahoma, the odds of another trip to CFP became a lot slimmer heading into the week.

In fact, according to the College Football Committee, the players would potentially be penalized for something they had absolutely no control over.

"The committee was aware of all the coaching changes while we were going through the rankings," said CFP chairman Gary Barta earlier this week. "This week it didn't apply, but once the championship games wrap up, our protocol does include the ability for the committee to consider a player or coach not being available."

Without a head coach in place, along with Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick stating he likely wouldn't be putting an interim head coach in place earlier this week, the lack of stability didn't look promising for the program and its postseason future initially.

As the week went on though, Swarbrick got to work and things started to take shape. He managed to keep offensive coordinator Tommy Rees from joining Kelly at LSU. Then, strength and conditioning coach Matt Balis said he'd stay on staff. After them, offensive line coach Mike Elson, running backs coach Lance Taylor, and both secondary coaches in Mike Mickens and Chris O'Leary all made it known they'd be staying in South Bend as well.

Keeping the staff mostly in tact had to have helped Swarbrick's case to defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman, who was officially named the head coach on Friday morning. There were reports stating Kelly was trying to bring Freeman on at LSU — making him the highest-paid defensive coordinator in the process — but the 35-year-old Ohio State alum turned him down.

"First off, I just want to thank Jack (Swarbrick) for this opportunity," said Freeman to his players in a video posted on Notre Dame's social media accounts on Friday. "He's the one that made this decision. He gave me this opportunity, Father (John) Jenkins gave me this opportunity. But really, the reason I'm standing here is because of you. It's unbelievable how powerful you guys are. That's why we're going to do great things. We have great leaders in this room, and when you want something done, you get it done.

"Things aren't changing. We are going to enhance what we do, but we're going to lean on our leadership. But right now, this isn't about the future. This isn't about next year, this isn't about five years from now, this is about right now. I don't care about anything else. I care about us, this group, this coaching staff and this football family finishing this thing off the way we have too."

Now, with stability in place, the Irish will have a prime opportunity to finish their 2021 season the way they'd like. Whether that's in the CFP or in a New Year's Six Bowl, how Notre Dame competes under Freeman to end the season will go a long way in establishing the right mindset heading into 2022.

NOTRE DAME'S PATH TO CFP

As the dust finally begins to settle for Notre Dame's football program after a turbulent week, its postseason outlook can finally be pushed to the forefront.

At No. 6 in the CFP rankings with an 11-1 record after a dominant second half of the regular season, the Irish are all-but guaranteed a NY6 berth. If one Notre Dame doesn't make the CFP, the Irish will likely end up at either the Chick-fil-a Peach Bowl on Dec. 30 in Atlanta, Georgia, or the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 1 in Glendale, Arizona.

For the Irish to earn a berth in the Playoff though, they'll need at least a couple things to happen to put themselves in prime position for the fourth and final spot.

First, No. 1 Georgia (12-0) has to beat No. 3 Alabama (11-1) in the SEC Championship game on Saturday. Currently, the Bulldogs are six-and-a-half point favorites and should handily beat an Alabama team that's looked like a shell of itself during the second half of the regular season. It'd benefit Notre Dame the most if Georgia takes down the Crimson Tide by double-digits.

Secondly, No. 5 Oklahoma State (11-1) needs to lose to No. 9 Baylor (10-2) in the Big 12 Championship in Arlington, Texas. The Bears, having already lost twice, likely wouldn't jump a one-loss Notre Dame team, and a second loss for the Cowboys would all-but eliminate them from playoff consideration.

If either Alabama or Oklahoma State win, Notre Dame fans would be rooting for No. 15 Iowa (10-2) to upset No. 2 Michigan (11-1) in the Big Ten Championship Game.

At least two of the three scenarios above have to occur for the Irish to have a shot at making the playoff. A loss by No. 3 Cincinnati to Houston in the AAC title game wouldn't hurt, but a difficult scenario would then be made for the committee due to the Bearcats having the same amount of losses and the head-to-head victory over Notre Dame in that situation.

It's been a wild ride for the Irish over the past week. Buckle up, because things have the ability to become much wilder heading into Sunday.

Evan Lepak can be reached at evan.lepak@goshennews.com or 574-533-2151, ext. 240326. Follow him on Twitter @EvanMPLepak.