Warde Manuel, CFP selection committee chair, explained the decision to keep the Nittany Lions above the Fighting Irish.

In the initial CFP rankings, Penn State was seeded seventh and projected to face Notre Dame in the first round. The Lions moved up to the sixth seed two weeks ago and were projected to play Ole Miss. Last week, they were the sixth seed and were projected to play Georgia.

Notre Dame’s could push them past Penn State in the next CFP rankings. Here’s why the Irish might deserve the edge.