Thanks to their win over USC, Notre Dame is close to hosting a College Football Playoff game after the second-to-last rankings were released.

The Fighting Irish, who are 11-1 on the season after rattling off 10 straight wins to end the year, secured the No. 4 spot in this week’s rankings, moving up from Ohio State’s loss to Michigan in Columbus by one spot.

The Irish will not play in the conference championship on Saturday, meaning they are not only in prime position to make the playoffs, but will also likely host a first-round game.

The question remains which seed the Irish will ultimately get. As things stand, they would be the No. 6 seed in the playoffs, with Penn State currently above them in both the rankings themselves and the seeding.

Under CFP rules, the top four seeds in the playoffs go to the highest-seeded conference champions. Since Notre Dame is not in a conference, the highest seed they can get is No. 5, which would mean they would host a playoff game on December 20th or 21st in South Bend.

In the current rankings, No. 6 seed Notre Dame would get a home game against the Alabama Crimson Tide, who, after defeating Auburn in the Iron Bowl, became the last overall team to pass Miami and secure a spot in the playoff rankings.

Other current first-round matchups include Penn State facing Arizona State, the top-ranked team in the Big 12. Georgia would host Indiana and the Buckeyes would welcome the Tennessee Volunteers to Columbus.

Oregon, Texas, SMU and Boise State would currently occupy the top four seedings as the conference’s four top seeds.

Of course, a lot can change this weekend for all teams involved. Oregon will face Penn State in the Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis, with both teams expected to receive CFP bids. Texas faces Georgia in the SEC title game in Atlanta, while SMU faces Clemson in the ACC championship game in Charlotte.

Boise State will look to clinch the Mountain West title when they welcome UNLV to Idaho on Friday night.

Finally, Arizona State will look to go from a three-win team in 2023 to a conference champion in its first season in the Big 12 when it takes on Iowa State in Arlington on Saturday morning.

The top-seeded playoff team not playing in a conference title game is Notre Dame, followed by No. 9 Indiana, No. 11 Alabama and No. 12 Miami, whose loss to Syracuse likely doomed their playoff chances.

Here are the full top 25:

1Oregon

2 Texas

3 Penn State

4 Notre Dame

5 Georgia

6 Ohio State

7 Tennessee

8 SMU

9Indiana

10 Boise State

11 Alabama

12Miami

13 Ole Miss

14 South Carolina

15 Arizona State

16 Iowa State

17 Clemson

18 BYU

19 Missouri

20 UNLV

21 Illinois

22 Syracuse

23 Colorado

24th Army

25 Memphis

The final College Football Playoff rankings will be released Sunday, with the 12-team field set after the conference title games are played.