Notre Dame joins the College Football Playoff, giving the ACC two teams

What a difference one week can make.

How does the 2020 college football bowl season differ from previous years?

Click to expand

UP NEXT

The ACC race seemed fairly clear-cut with Clemson expected to run the table and leave one College Football Playoff spot open for other conferences to fill. That place was projected to go to Oregon last week with the Ducks and the Pac-12 getting their season started.

The outlook after Notre Dame upset the top-ranked Tigers is quite different, The ACC is positioned to put two teams in the field if Clemson can rebound turn the tables against an expected Fighting Irish in conference championship game. If that occurs, both teams would likely be in the field, joining Alabama and Ohio State, which continue to be the class of their respective leagues. 

© Matt Cashore, USA TODAY Sports
Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book finds running room as Clemson safety Tyler Venables pursues during the second overtime at Notre Dame Stadium.

From NFL plays to college sports scores, all the top sports news you need to know every day.

Besides Oregon, the big loser from the weekend is Cincinnati. The Bearcats were in position to have a strong playoff case. It will unlikely to have much of an argument if both Clemson and Notre Dame finish with one loss. They’ll be hoping for more upsets along the way before the committee makes its final call on Dec. 20.

HEISMAN WATCH: Ohio State’s Fields now second behind Alabama’s Jones

RE-RANK: Alabama takes over at No. 1, Notre Dame rises to No. 2

NEW LEADER: Alabama takes over at No. 1 in Amway Coaches Poll

Some small modifications to the New Year’s Six games came from the results of the weekend. Miami moves into the Orange Bowl as the ACC representative and will face Florida after the Gators moved ahead of Georgia with their defeat of the Bulldogs. Oregon dropping to the Fiesta Bowl pushes Wisconsin out.

The bowl lineup for the postseason stands at 37 games with the status of the Las Vegas Bowl uncertain. Teams in bold have accepted berths.

© Provided by USA TODAY SPORTS

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bowl projections: Notre Dame joins the College Football Playoff, giving the ACC two teams