Notre Dame’s Opponents: Ranked No. 15, Irish have a Pac-12 problem

Thanks to a last-minute touchdown drive against Virginia Tech, Notre Dame can still hope to end its season in a “New Year’s Six” bowl, specifically the Cotton Bowl. When the first College Football Playoff rankings were released Tuesday night, including the Irish at No. 15, they revealed the biggest hurdle between Notre Dame and a return to Dallas exactly one year after its Playoff wreck.

The Irish will need either No. 7 Oregon or No. 8 Utah to stub its toe before the two likely meet in the Pac-12 title game. The problem is, neither is at all likely to.

As laid out a week ago, Notre Dame making the Cotton Bowl is contingent on winning its next four games, obviously, and on not finishing behind…