Notre Dame's Odds to Make 2020 College Football Playoff on Par With Texas After Historic 2019 Season

For a program with the pedigree and success of Notre Dame, historic seasons have been hard to come by in recent years. Nonetheless, the Fighting Irish made history last season on the back of their perfect 12-0 regular-season finish that vaulted them into their first College Football Playoff appearance.

Despite losing plenty of key contributors on both sides of the ball from last season's team, the 2019 Fighting Irish are still tied with the Texas Longhorns for the eighth-best odds of making the 2020 CFP at +850, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

The Irish will be without running back Dexter Williams and his 1,128 yards from scrimmage and 13 touchdowns from last year. They also lost a combined 215 total tackles, 22.0 tackles for loss (TFL) and 12.0 sacks between the losses of Jerry Tillery, Te'von Coney and Julian Love on defense.

Notre Dame does return, perhaps, its most important cog from last season's success in starting quarterback Ian Book. However, this year's schedule doesn't appear to yield a lucky draw for the Irish, as Notre Dame will have to face three of its toughest opponents on the road with away games at Georgia, Michigan and Stanford.

As the premier remaining independent FBS Division I program, the Irish have both the blessing and curse of not having to play a conference championship game. If Notre Dame can make another undefeated run through its 12 regular-season challenges, the Irish's name will almost certainly be in the running for the final 2020 CFP selection come December.

Although, it'd also be wise to make note of the Irish's pathway to the 2020 CFP as it relates to their projected win total, which sits at just 8.5 wins for the upcoming season. And if there's one thing we've learned from the CFP Selection Committee in recent years, nine-, 10-, and even some 11-win teams need not waste their time hoping to make the final cut for one of the four coveted CFP berths.

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David Hayes is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, David Hayes also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username DavidWHayes. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.