October, No. 12 Notre Dame (5-1) feels about where it wants to be. Even if the Irish haven’t been thrilled about how they got here.

The deeper we get into the college football season, the more we are going to hyper focus on the playoffs, and project it in this chaotic landscape. In a recent projection from A to Z Sports, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish earned a spot in the field.

Oregon made quite the statement heading into college football's midseason junction, holding off previously unbeaten Ohio State to move up in this week's national rankings. The victory validates the Ducks as one of the College Football Playoff national championship frontrunners and puts the Buckeyes in the unfamiliar position of needing to play flawlessly over their final six games in hopes of a rematch.

Don’t concern yourselves about the AP Top 25 Poll, Notre Dame fans. The College Football Playoff committee’s rankings are all that matters. We won’t get that for a few more weeks, though. Bracketology is released by different websites weekly to give a gauge on where things stand.

It’s very interesting to see Notre Dame ahead of those three team with a loss, but the metrics clearly favor the Irish over all of them. ESPN also believes that the chances you see the Blue and Gold in the college football playoff are better than 50/50, as Notre Dame rose from a projected 48.4% last week to 57.4% this week.

Notre Dame improved to 5-1 this weekend and earned its fourth straight win by dominating Stanford by a 49-7 score. It was Notre Dame's fourth win in five games against the Cardinal, and it's clear the Irish have re-taken control of this series.

Notre Dame has to be wondering what it can do to catch a break -- or if it's being unfairly punished for a bad day at home against Northern Illinois last month. Or maybe poll voters just don't respect the quality of the Fighting Irish's opponents.

Can the Irish finish strong? Breaking down Notre Dame's 2024 win projections and potential outcomes for the rest of the season.