SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Ten thoughts on Notre Dame’s drop to No. 10 in the penultimate College Football Playoff rankings, including why that overwhelming sense of dread around the Irish fan base is probably a little bit overstated.

There’s no reason to panic if you’re Notre Dame right now.

There’s also no reason to follow the ACC Football Twitter account, either.

1. Let’s get the bad part out of the way.

If BYU wins the Big 12 Championship Game over Texas Tech on Saturday (noon ET, ABC), Notre Dame is out of the College Football Playoff. This is the independent tax Notre Dame pays when it comes to CFP selection. It’s willing to pay it. It will be willing to pay it even if BYU squeezes past Notre Dame at the finish line.

So whatever happens next weekend, nothing should be interpreted as, “Time to join a conference.” If the Irish get left out, it just means they shouldn’t have started 0-2.

2. I get it, everybody is micro-listening to CFP chair Hunter Yurachek when it comes to Notre Dame and Miami. During his conference call after the section show, Yurachek said, “We’re not comparing Notre Dame and Miami side-by-side.” That has led to panic attacks around the idea of BYU losing the Big 12 title game and dropping below Miami, which would put the Hurricanes and the Irish literally side-by-side in the rankings.

But that’s probably not what Yurachek means.

Because if BYU and Alabama both lose while Notre Dame and Miami don’t play … the committee will again evaluate all four of those programs against one another. And while Yurachek said teams that aren’t playing aren’t locked into their positions, nothing about Alabama and BYU losing should make Notre Dame look worse relative to Miami.

3. Also, Notre Dame’s strength of schedule can improve on Friday night when Boise State hosts UNLV in the Mountain West title game. The Broncos are four-point favorites. No Miami opponent plays this weekend.

4. In other words, the committee has already come to a judgment on Notre Dame and Miami. Miami won the head-to-head matchup, but Notre Dame has been the better team overall this season. No matter how many times the ACC Network airs Miami’s Aug. 31 win over Notre Dame, that hasn’t changed.

5. While there’s been a lot of angst over Notre Dame and Alabama flip-flopping after the Crimson Tide nearly blew the Iron Bowl at Auburn, what’s interesting is how Yurachek described the distance between Notre Dame and Alabama in the committee room. Because it doesn’t sound like there’s much daylight there.

“We’ve got people that thought highly of Alabama — we all think highly of both of those teams, but some are very much in Alabama’s camp, some are very much in Notre Dame’s camp,” Yurachek said.

Yes, you may wonder how blowing a 17-0 lead against a team with a lame-duck interim coach and one conference win could be turned into a compliment. Fair point. But remember how Yurachek described Notre Dame’s relationship with Miami compared to how he described the relationship with Alabama.

The committee has Notre Dame and Alabama as nearly identical teams. Not because of their rankings, but because of how good it thinks both are. When Miami comes into the conversation? Then it’s a four-team pod of Notre Dame, Alabama, BYU and Miami. In other words, Notre Dame and Miami aren’t similar enough in metrics to make one data point tip the rankings. Notre Dame and Alabama are.

Notre Dame and Alabama are much closer to one another than one spot in the rankings would suggest. Notre Dame and Miami appear to be much further apart than two spots in the rankings would suggest.

6. So yeah, you’d much rather be Notre Dame than Miami right now.

7. There’s a presumption Alabama won’t drop with a SEC Championship Game loss to Georgia, so why is there a presumption BYU would tumble with a second loss to No. 4 Texas Tech? Considering how little appetite there is for penalizing teams for losing conference championship games, don’t assume BYU would automatically drop with a loss.

8. But, for what it’s worth, all four losers of power-conference championship games dropped at least one spot in the final rankings a year ago. Penn State and Texas dropped one spot after losing to Oregon and Georgia, respectively. SMU and Iowa State dropped two spots after losing to Clemson and Arizona State, respectively.

Still, that’s one year of data points from a different committee. SMU’s drop from No. 9 to No. 11 kept it in the field, which is probably the most significant point.

9. Covering Marcus Freeman day-to-day, you figure out the kinds of questions he’ll answer and the kinds he’ll duck. Freeman sees questions about being the head coach at Notre Dame as his lane, and he rarely flips on his turn signal. Recruiting legislation? Roster management? Big-picture changes in the sport? His stock answer is basically that he’ll figure out how Notre Dame can put a new rule to good use and move forward. He’s not much for advocating for actual rule changes.

That made Freeman’s lobbying for Notre Dame as a CFP contender a bit different than the norm. For once, he was fine focusing on the “uncertain future” that he’s usually quick to shut down. Yes, Freeman couldn’t deflect when asked about Notre Dame’s postseason credentials. No, that doesn’t mean he’d be automatically convincing when he lobbied for them.

The only thing that seemed to trip up Freeman was when he got asked the same question twice in an eight-minute news conference after already going on “SportsCenter”.

“Just answered that question. I’ll repeat it for the third time. I told the ‘SportsCenter’ and I just answered,” he said. “We are improving as much as any team in the country, and we have improved as much as anybody in the country. We’re playing as well as any team in the country. Ten straight wins by double-digit points. We have, to me, in my opinion, the best player in the country. That’s what you want, and you want the best teams in the country now. Who’s the best team for the playoffs right now?”

Is that going to sway the committee? Probably not. But it was right to try.

10. Basically, here’s what Notre Dame needs this weekend.

Texas Tech beats BYU in the Big 12 Championship Game.

And …

Georgia beats Alabama in the SEC Championship Game.

A Texas Tech win alone might be enough for Notre Dame to punch its ticket into the field. But if the Irish hit the two-way parlay of favorites, Notre Dame should be able to watch Sunday afternoon’s selection show without the panic that enveloped much of the fan base on Tuesday night. Nerves? Sure. But Notre Dame has already done the hard part.