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Why Notre Dame Is the True Big Winner in College Football's Shake-Up Saturday

The biggest of many winners from college football's "shake-up Saturday" was Notre Dame, which not only beat Pittsburgh but also, by virtue of what happened around it, essentially guaranteed that running the table would land it in the College Football Playoff.

Conspiracy theorists will say that was true before Saturday—ain't no way they're snubbing Notre Dame and its guaranteed television ratings—but now the 11-1 Irish would deserve a playoff spot based on any objective survey of resumes.

The only realistic scenario in which they don't make the playoff is one with three undefeated conference champions and one-loss Alabama.