:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71349828/1422604006.0.jpg "Notre Dame-Marshall upset: What Irish loss means for College Football Playoff chances?")
The No. 8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish fell flat in their home opener on Saturday, falling victim to a 26-21 upset loss at the hands of the Marshall Thundering Herd. The Irish are now 0-2 after losing their much hyped season opener at Ohio State a week ago.
So what does this loss mean for their College Football Playoff hopes? The answer: It's over. Done. Finished.
The CFP committee has never ranked a two-loss team in the top four of final rankings and it will most certainly not give the thumbs up to a Notre Dame team that opened the season with a pair of losses. Had Marcus Freeman's team run the table after losing to Ohio State, it would've been heavily considered come December. A sloppy performance at home against a Sun Belt program in Marshall as a heavy favorite is what will seal those playoff hopes shut.
Notre Dame could still vie for a New Year Six bowl bid if it ran the table from this point forward and has games against BYU, Clemson, and USC to strengthen its case. But Freeman and company has a lot of work to do to even think about that at this point.