The deeper we get into the college football season, the more we are going to hyper focus on the playoffs, and project it in this chaotic landscape. In a recent projection from A to Z Sports, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish earned a spot in the field.

Oregon made quite the statement heading into college football's midseason junction, holding off previously unbeaten Ohio State to move up in this week's national rankings. The victory validates the Ducks as one of the College Football Playoff national championship frontrunners and puts the Buckeyes in the unfamiliar position of needing to play flawlessly over their final six games in hopes of a rematch.

Don’t concern yourselves about the AP Top 25 Poll, Notre Dame fans. The College Football Playoff committee’s rankings are all that matters. We won’t get that for a few more weeks, though. Bracketology is released by different websites weekly to give a gauge on where things stand.