There are still plenty of things that need to go right if Notre Dame is going to find itself in the “Final Four” for the college football playoffs.

Stanford losing did not help the Fighting Irish’s chances, but it did not kill them either.

Notre Dame still needs to go to Fenway Park and beat Boston College Saturday and then finish off the year with a victory in Palo Alto, California, over the Cardinal.

Notre Dame has a solid resume for the committee to take a look at, but a lot of it is still out of their hands.

The next two weekends are key for the Fighting Irish as several of the top teams, including a couple of undefeated ones, will face their toughest tests of the season.

I still have to wonder if that close win against a mediocre Virginia team will cost Notre Dame in the long run.

There area a lot of different scenarios in play, especially in the Big Ten and SEC.

If Ohio State beats Michigan State this weekend and then loses to Michigan, who goes on to beat undefeated Iowa for the Big Ten championship, things could get pretty interesting.

If the SEC ends up with a champion with two losses, will it end up with a team in the final four over a one-loss Big 12 team, whose schedule is not quite as tough?

Notre Dame can only control what happens on the field against Boston College and Stanford.

Win out and then let the chips fall where they may, or in this case, wait for the fall out from the committee.

 

Scott Novak is sports editor for Leader Publications. He can be reached at scott.novak@leaderpub.com.