Predicting where Notre Dame will be in the first set of College Football Playoff rankings

The first set of college football playoff rankings will be released tonight on ESPN, and perhaps more than anything, it is a mile marker for where the season is right now in terms of number of games left.

The season as a whole has been absolutely wild, and it has an excellent opportunity to surpass 2007 as the wildest regular season in modern football. The 2007 season only had the BCS, so much of what happened over the first 12 games can be swept under the rug.

Not this season. The 12 team playoff is showing itself to be probably the right number for the regular season to really matter. Last year was a much different story as we went into the last month with practically no upsets, and that could still be the case this season — but I doubt it.

If you’re a Notre Dame fan, I would offer this piece of advice this week… don’t get too caught up in the “does ND make it in with 2 losses” debate. It’s a dumb debate with the way the season has gone so far, because no one has a clue of how this will take shape over the next few weeks. If Notre Dame beats Miami this week, however, the Irish are all but a lock to be in the CFP.

Anyways… here is my prediction for what the committee will do with the first set of College Football Playoff rankings.

1. Miami Hurricanes
2. Georgia Bulldogs
3. Utah Utes
4. UCLA Bruins
5. Kentucky Wildcats
6. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
7. Indiana Hoosiers
8. BYU Cougars
9. Wake Forest Demon Deacons
10. Texas Tech Red Raiders
11. Ole Miss Rebels
12. Alabama Crimson Tide
13. Texas Longhorns
14. Ohio State Buckeyes
15. LSU Tigers
16. Tennessee Volunteers
17. USC Trojans
18. Boise State Broncos
19. Arizona Wildcats
20. Iowa Hawkeyes
21. Houston Cogars
22. Missouri Tigers
23. Northwestern Wildcats
24. New Mexico Lobos
25. SMU Mustangs