No. 7 Stanford at No. 8 Notre Dame
7:30p ET
NBC
This game doesn’t really affect the Badgers but it’s not every week we get two top 10 matchups in the same night. Stanford just escaped Oregon with a win last week and Notre Dame made a quarterback change that may have its offense clicking.
The one way this game could muddy up the Playoff landscape is if Notre Dame wins because there aren’t any games that stand out on the rest of the schedule. Road games at Virginia Tech, Northwestern, and USC are as tough as it gets. An undefeated Notre Dame team is probably the Playoff committee’s dream. Getting one of the largest fan bases in all of sports into the biggest event in college football will be a ratings goldmine.
There already are only four spots for five major conference champions and it’s likely the SEC is eyeing two of those spots. If Notre Dame runs the table, it’s possible that three power five conference champions get left out of the Playoff. Would the Big Ten be one of them?
Hopefully, this isn’t a bridge we have to cross. It’s very difficult to go undefeated in major college football. Even if the Irish win this game it’s possible they slip up down the road but a win would make things significantly easier for them and would start the worry for programs in every conference outside the SEC.