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By Jordan Sigler
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The College Football Playoff selection committee sent Notre Dame a message on Tuesday, and former Alabama head coach Nick Saban understands the implications for the Fighting Irish.
The committee put Notre Dame at No. 11 in their first rankings release on Tuesday. The Irish are 7-1, but have no wins over a ranked team this season. Notre Dame's lone loss of the season came in a controversial ending against BYU, the only ranked team the Irish have played this season.
Notre Dame will host No. 1 Miami on Saturday. During an appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show" on Friday, Saban argued the Irish will likely be left out of the CFP if they don't find a way to beat the Hurricanes on Saturday.
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“This is a huge game. Obviously, playing the No. 1 team in the country at home," Saban said, via a transcription from On3. "I think the game is kind of a must-win situation, because the College Football Playoff put them conveniently at No. 11. ‘Conveniently’ means if they don’t win, they may be on the outside looking in. Not saying they can’t play their way back into it, but they don’t have the strongest schedule to finish with.
“They wouldn’t have any quality wins, which was a big issue last year. But I like their team and their defense. I like Marcus Freeman and the way he coaches this team, and the way he’s been preparing their team to focus on the moment and not the outcome.”
Notre Dame will finish its season against Boston College, SMU and Syracuse, all unranked teams. SMU dropped out of the rankings this week after losing to Syracuse in Week 9. The Mustangs will host No. 16 Wake Forest on Nov. 14. A win could put them back in the rankings before playing Notre Dame on Nov. 21.
The Irish knew before the season they had two games they needed to win to make the CFP, BYU and Miami. They failed in the first one and will need to leave nothing to doubt against the Hurricanes on Saturday if the Irish hope to make the playoff.
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