They’re coming home.

The Irish will have to wait another week to find out who they’ll play, but it’s no surprise that Notre Dame has all but secured a home game for the College Football Playoff.

The latest rankings were published on Tuesday evening. The Irish landed at No. 4, up one spot from last week, after Ohio State’s home loss to Michigan last weekend dropped the Buckeyes from No. 2 to No. 6.

It should be noted that the rankings do not reflect playoff seeds, as the top four seeds are reserved for the top four conference champions. Those won’t be determined until this weekend’s league title games, but the mock round projects those winners.

#1 Oregon is projected to be the winner of the Big Ten Championship and would receive the No. 1 seed, followed by projected SEC Champion and #2 Texas. According to current projections, #8 SMU and #10 Boise State would jump to third and fourth place by winning the ACC and Mountain West crowns.

Presumptive Big 12 champion Arizona State would make the 12-team playoffs, currently ranked 15th, despite not receiving a first-round bye and being seeded 12th.

The fourth-seeded Irish would be seeded sixth in the current hypothetical group and would face No. 11 Alabama in a first-round game in South Bend.

The winner of this game would face SMU in the quarterfinals.

With the regular season over, it’s hard to imagine the Irish dropping below the No. 6 seed. If anything, it’s more likely that Notre Dame would move up to No. 5 if Oregon beats Penn State in the Big Ten Championship and/or Georgia beats Texas in the SEC Championship Game.

Technically, there is a scenario where the Irish could drop to No. 7. If Penn State beats Oregon and Texas narrowly loses, those three teams, along with Georgia and the two other highest-seeded conference champions, could still be seeded ahead of Notre Dame.

Regardless of where they end up ranked, the Irish cannot be ranked higher than fifth because they are independent and do not have the opportunity to become conference champions.

1. Oregon (12-0)
2. Texas (11-1)
3. Penn State (11-1)
4. Notre Dame (11-1)
5. Georgia (10-2)
6. Ohio State (10-2)
7. Tennessee (10-2)
8. SMU (11-1)
9. Indiana (11-1)
10. Boise State (11-1)
11. Alabama (9-3)
12. Miami (10-2)
13. Ole Miss (9-3)
14. South Carolina (9-3)
15. Arizona State (10-2)
16. Iowa State (10-2)

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