For what it's worth, betting odds and Sagarin have the Top 11 in almost the exact same order with ND coming in at #2 in Sagarin and #4 betting odds. Sagarin likes Utah at 12, betting odds prefer BYU. Hard to ignore those metrics for the Irish if you're the committee.
Betting odds:
1. Ohio State, 2. Indiana, 3. Georgia, 4. Notre Dame, 4. Oregon, 6. Texas Tech, 7. Alabama, 7. Texas A&M, 9. Ole Miss, 10. Oklahoma, 11. Miami. After this the odds go way down for all teams. 12. BYU