For No. 8 BYU, Saturday night's home showdown with the Fighting Irish offers a chance to show the College Football Playoff selection committee a closer look is necessary at one of the Big 12's best ahead of the first rankings later this season.
On the other end, No. 2 Notre Dame is accustomed to spotlight opportunities.
Chasing the program's first national championship since 1988, the Fighting Irish were snubbed from the CFP field last season after finishing 10-2, and a loss to the Cougars would bring doubt considering Notre Dame still has to play Miami and SMU, among others.
Notre Dame's ranked No. 1 in the country in total defense through its first six games, giving up 25 yards less per game (241.2) than its next closest competitor, North Dakota State.
"You want to play against the best, and this is going to be, on paper, the best opponent we're going to see to date," Freeman said of BYU. "I think the approach we probably have each game is that the opponent is the best we've seen, but this one shows you with the record, it shows you with the ranking. So let's go play against the best on their home field, right?
"I love playing at home, but there's something about going on the road when it's us against everybody, and it makes you say, 'OK, we gotta do this thing together, alright?' And I love it. (The players) love it because they're competitors. We want to play against the best, and if this is the best, let's go. Let's go do it."
Notre Dame's path to the CFP
As long as Notre Dame finishes inside the top 12 of the selection committee's final rankings, the Irish are in. That's an assurance every other contender would love to have.
The Fighting Irish still have to earn their ranking, but the postseason math comes with fewer moving parts. And while this is the first time in program history that BYU has hosted a top-10 matchup, the outcome means more for Notre Dame than it does for the Cougars.
An upset loss for Notre Dame complicates the CFP picture for a team whose only ideal scenario from there would be winning out.
How BYU can crash the bracket
A victory over Notre Dame increases the likelihood that the Big 12 will place two teams in the 12-team bracket this season if BYU fails in its quest to win the conference. We're projecting here, but an 11-1 finish and quality strength of record with a win over the Fighting Irish should be more than enough to push the Cougars ahead of others in the at-large conversation -- perhaps from the SEC or Big Ten -- with fewer wins.
Aside from going unbeaten, BYU's best path is to win the conference and get the designated guaranteed bid. The Cougars finished 11-2 last season, with a loss to Texas Tech in the Big 12 Championship, and were left out of the final pairings, with strength of schedule noted as one of the separating factors.
In addition to playing the second-ranked Fighting Irish this weekend, BYU battles 11th-ranked Utah on the road on Nov. 7 and there's a chance Baylor (4-1) or Cincinnati (4-1) is inside the top 25 later in November if those two squads keep winning.
