Saturday night’s highly anticipated matchup between US LBM Coaches Poll No. 2 Notre Dame and No. 8 BYU has been abuzz all week, especially with the contest featured on ESPN’s College GameDay.
According to BetMGM, the Fighting Irish are currently a 10-point favorite against the Cougars.
ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy provided some scenarios depending on which team wins and loses.
On the “Always College Football” show, McElroy said that if Notre Dame wins, not only will the team be 7-0 but they will have the “who have they beaten” question finally answered.
If BYU loses, McElroy said the team will be 5-1 with a trip to the Utah Utes on Nov. 7 still on the schedule.
“You have a road win over an unbeaten top 10 team, then it’s onto Miami on Nov. 7...and that’s the one that turns into the playoff seeding game,” McElroy said. “If Notre Dame wins this game, they’re in the College Football Playoff, so you can go ahead and punch your ticket.”
McElroy added that if BYU wins, they would improve to 6-0 and open a world of possibilities for the Cougars.
“A win over the No. 2 team in the Associated Press poll puts BYU immediately into the top-five conversation,” McElroy said. “And the Big 12, more than anybody, would benefit from this result because they’d finally have a team that’s unbeaten with a win over a top-two team in the country, and the Big 12 playoff conversation starts and ends in Provo (Utah).”
McElroy noted that if the Irish lose, the road to the CFP becomes more challenging.
“They’ll take their first loss with no conference title to fix it, so the schedule question starts to become a little bit of a problem as it relates to the resume,” McElroy said.
What are the potential narratives after @NDFootball faces @BYUfootball 🤔#GoIrish ☘️ | #BYUFootball 🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/jZL6wLo6rG
— Always College Football (@AlwaysCFB) October 14, 2026
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This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: ESPN’s Greg McElroy breaks down scenarios for Notre Dame-BYU outcome