The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have been fighting for their lives this season since losing their first two games to Miami and Texas A&M. The good news is that both of those teams were ranked pretty high when they faced off and have continued to stay in the rankings. The bad news is that the head-to-head outcome matters, and it could come back to haunt Notre Dame.
In the second installment of the College Football Playoff rankings, Notre Dame came in at No. 9, and in the third rankings, the Fighting Irish didn't move an inch, even after beating a ranked Pitt team 37-15 in their own stadium.