There’s a shot we see Clemson football take on Notre Dame three times in 2020
The Clemson football team is on track to compete for another National Championship, but there’s a chance they will have to go through Notre Dame twice more to get there.
The Tigers dropped a road matchup against the Fighting Irish earlier this season without Trevor Lawrence, James Skalski, Tyler Davis or Mike Jones Jr. on the field and it seems almost like a foregone conclusion that the two teams will meet in Charlotte in just a few weeks for the ACC Championship.
Clemson football has to win that game to earn a spot in the CFB Playoff, but interestingly enough, Notre Dame has a path to the playoff even with a loss there.
If Clemson and Notre Dame both win out and the Tigers beat the Fighting Irish close in Charlotte, is the CFB Playoff committee really going to leave a one-loss Notre Dame team out of the picture?
CFB Playoff implications are huge for Clemson football in the next few weeks
If Clemson and Alabama both win out, those two teams would have the No. 1 and No. 2 spots- with the undefeated Crimson Tide being ranked No. 1 overall.
The final two spots would be between an undefeated Ohio State team that likely won’t play enough games to even qualify for the Big Ten Championship, a one-loss Notre Dame team whose only loss was to Clemson in Charlotte, potentially a one-loss Texas A&M team whose only loss was to Alabama, and maybe an undefeated Cincinnati.
I’ll let you be the judge as to who gets those final two spots: Notre Dame, Ohio State, Texas A&M and Cincinnati.
Even if you don’t think the Fighting Irish get one of those two spots, you have to at least admit that it’s possible they’re selected with one loss. I would venture to say that most fans would say the Irish do deserve a spot in the playoff even with a loss to Clemson.
If they got in as the No. 4 seed- most likely- and beat Alabama, that could set up a third Clemson-Notre Dame matchup, this time for the National Title.
Some may grow tired of seeing the two teams play three games in one season, but it’s certainly an intriguing possibility and scenario as we head down the stretch of the season, to say the least.