Notre Dame’s women’s basketball team is about to give fans their first real look at the new group, and the headliner is exactly where it should be. The No. 13 Fighting Irish host Truman State on Monday night in their annual exhibition, with senior star Hannah Hidalgo front and center again after a monster season that rewrote the record book.
Hidalgo, a three-time All-American, set the single-season NCAA steals record last year with 202 and also put up 25.3 points per game, which stands as a Notre Dame record. The exhibition will also mark the first in-uniform appearance for transfers Anaya Hardy and Madison St.
Rose. Hardy arrives from Louisville after spending her first two seasons there, and she led the Cardinals in field goal percentage last year at 66.7.
St. Rose comes in from Princeton, where the fifth-year guard earned 2026 All-Ivy First Team honors.
Monday’s tune-up comes with the bigger picture already in view. Just five days later, Notre Dame’s men’s and women’s programs will open the season on November 1 in Rome, Italy, against Villanova.
Elsewhere, Missouri got a major update on Sunday night. Head coach Eli Drinkwitz announced that star running back Ahmad Hardy will return to practice this week after recovering from a gunshot wound suffered in the offseason.
Hardy was shot in the upper leg in May while attending a concert in Mississippi, and he underwent emergency surgery. He has not played this season, and now the school says it will begin determining when he can get back into a game.
Former Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy also had a sharp Sunday in his first start of the season for the New York Giants.
With coach John Harbaugh benching Jameis Winston, McCarthy completed 20 of 28 passes for 252 yards and guided the Giants in the same stadium where he helped Michigan win the national title in January 2024. New York then beat the Houston Texans 27-21 in overtime to move to 4-2-1, and the way things looked Sunday, McCarthy appears set to keep the job for now.
The latest AP Top 25 also stirred up the expected noise around Notre Dame. When BYU fell to UCF, 39-31, in double overtime Saturday night, the Cougars slipped in the rankings and landed behind the Irish. BYU checks in at No. 8, while Notre Dame sits at No. 5, and that change did not go over well with plenty of fans and analysts.
Marcus Freeman probably isn’t bothered. If anything, the reaction only gives the Irish more fuel.
On the recruiting front, Notre Dame is still in the mix for five-star linebacker Kaden Henderson, but the door does not appear wide open. Henderson said the Irish remain in touch and made clear that Texas A&M is still his preferred fit.
“I love Notre Dame, and they’re always in contact with me...I felt that A&M was the best place for me, and I think it still is.”
Notre Dame hockey, meanwhile, continues to struggle.
In Other News...
Notre Dames AP Poll Drop Just Created A New Resume Debate
Notre Dames bye week did not protect it from slipping in the Associated Press Top 25, as the Irish landed at No. 5 in the latest poll. Georgia and Indiana both moved ahead after their recent performances, a change that immediately stirred up the usual late-season arguments about how much recent form should outweigh what a team has already done on the field.
The bigger wrinkle is where BYU fits into the picture. The Cougars checked in at No. 8 after stacking wins over ranked opponents, including Notre Dame, and that result adds another layer to the resume debate now hovering around the Irish. It is the kind of ranking shuffle that forces voters and fans alike to weigh head-to-head results, strength of schedule and what they believe the committee should value most when the season reaches its most crowded stretch. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Bye Week Brought Playoff Help And Fresh Offensive Frustration
Notre Dame spent its bye week watching the playoff picture tilt in ways that could matter down the line, with BYUs loss to UCF and Wisconsins win over USC both nudging the national conversation in a direction the Irish could like. The Badgers victory gives the Big Ten a little more credibility in College Football Playoff discussions, while BYU taking a hit weakens a rsum that had been building around the edges of the bracket conversation.
Closer to home, the off week did not erase the frustration from the previous game, where Mike Denbrocks offensive plan drew fresh criticism. There was also a reminder elsewhere in the sport of how difficult first starts can be, with Tommy Carr enduring a rough debut as Michigans quarterback, a parallel that only underscores how much execution and preparation matter when the margins get tight. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Just Got A Huge Boost In The Playoff Race
Week 8 shook up the AP Top 25 in a way that could matter a lot for Notre Dames playoff path. With nearly a third of the top 10 taking losses, the rankings got a fresh reset, and the ripple effects reached well beyond the teams that actually played on Saturday. The fallout included the loss of two previously unbeaten Big 12 teams, plus movement near the top as Miami picked up a bigger share of first-place votes even after No. 2 BYU went down.
For Notre Dame, the bigger picture is that the playoff race has become a little more open, and a little more chaotic, than it looked a week ago. Texas and Utah climbed in the rankings, while teams such as Iowa and USC remained in the votes without cracking the top 25, a reminder of how quickly the committee conversation can shift when losses pile up. The Irish are still watching the same crowded field, but this was the kind of weekend that can change who stays in front of them and who slips back into the pack. [Read more 🡒]