Brian Kelly says if ND is undefeated at the end, he’ll ‘go on Oprah’ to plead his team’s national championship game case

Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly told SiriusXM College Sports Nation that he has no problem going to bat for his team should it stay undefeated by the end of the season.

Currently, the Fighting Irish are one of three undefeated teams fighting to play in the national championship, but they're on the outside looking in while in third place in the BCS standings.

[Related: Archaic BCS rules have unbeaten Notre Dame stuck at No. 3]

Kelly said he wouldn't campaign with games against Wake Forest and USC remaining, but after the season is a different story.

"I'm just not good enough to be able to do both," Kelly said of campaigning and coaching. "I'm challenged enough on a day-to-day basis to keep my guys focused on Wake Forest. The rest of the stuff, let's see how Notre Dame does. Let's take Wake Forest, see what happens there, and then USC. Then, if we get to the point after USC that we're undefeated, I'll go on 'Oprah' if I have to. Maybe I'll come back on Sirius.

"But for right now, quite honestly, I'm just going to worry about winning football games."

All three teams at the top of the BCS standings — Kansas State, Oregon and Notre Dame — have at least one tough game remaining before they can claim an undefeated season. Notre Dame hopes that if Kansas State or Oregon slips, the Irish would be next up in the BCS national championship game. But to do that, they need to remain undefeated themselves.

[Dan Wetzel podcast: Notre Dame's resurgence, Johnny Football]

"They know that they can't even be part of this conversation unless they take care of business," Kelly said. "They've been living in this for five weeks, so they clearly understand that this is still about winning football games. People are talking about this weekend and they clearly know, this group is smart enough, they get it.

"They understand they can't be part of this conversation unless they beat Wake Forest."

- - -
H/T Coaching Search

Got a tip for Dr. Saturday? Email us at dr.saturday@ymail.com. You can also connect with us via Twitter @YahooDrSaturday and be sure to "Like" Dr. Saturday on Facebook for football conversations and stuff you won't see on the blog.

More college football coverage from Yahoo! Sports:

Other popular content on the Yahoo! network:
• Tommy Tuberville denies slapping assistant, apologizes anyway
• NBA Power Rankings: Knicks move into first place
• Y! Shine: Simple tricks for the ultimate grilled cheese