Notre Dame enters the season with a rare kind of runway.
The Fighting Irish have not won a national championship since 1988, and the program has spent the decades since then chasing that standard with a few near misses along the way. They reached the BCS National Championship Game in 2012 and were beaten soundly by Alabama. They got back to the title game in 2024 after winning three playoff games, only to lose 34-23 to Ohio State.
That 2024 run was followed by a 10-2 season, but it still wasn’t enough to get Notre Dame into the College Football Playoff. The Irish were in position heading into conference championship weekend, then got passed by Miami in the final rankings even though neither team played that week.
Now Marcus Freeman’s team is trying to turn the page and get back to the playoff for the second time under its head coach. The case for Notre Dame is built on both talent and schedule. The Irish are No. 1 nationally in returning production, with quarterback CJ Carr and cornerback Leonard Moore among the biggest reasons for optimism in South Bend.
That combination has college football analyst Brooks Austin treating Notre Dame like a near-certainty.
"Notre Dame is a layup," Austin said. "Notre Dame has no excuse to be out of the College Football Playoff this year. Zero."
The schedule helps explain why that view has traction. Notre Dame has only three games against teams expected to be ranked in the preseason AP poll: BYU, Miami and SMU.
The Irish are likely to be favored at BYU and against SMU. Miami is the toughest of the three on paper, but that game will be in South Bend, which could tilt the line Notre Dame’s way as well. If the Irish go at least 2-1 in those matchups and take care of the rest of their schedule, they should be in the playoff picture again.
For Notre Dame, the path is unusually clear. The roster is loaded with returning production, the schedule is manageable, and the expectation is no longer just to contend for a spot. It is to cash in on all that continuity and finally turn another playoff trip into something more.
If the Irish miss again with this setup, the scrutiny will only get louder when the season ends.
In Other News...
Phil Steeles Notre Dame Stadium Ranking Has Irish Fans Fuming
Phil Steeles latest attempt to quantify home-field advantage has Notre Dame fans shaking their heads, with the Irish landing at No. 21 in a ranking built on home win-loss records from 2021 through 2025. The placement leaves Notre Dame behind several Group of Five programs, a result that feels especially hard to swallow for a stadium and fan base that have long sold themselves as one of the sports true home environments.
The debate gets sharper when the list is stacked against familiar opponents, including NC State sitting one spot ahead of Notre Dame even though the Irish beat the Wolfpack in South Bend in 2023 and NC State was routed there last season. It is also a reminder that raw records do not always tell the full story, especially for a program that has been perfect in neutral-site games during that span and has built much of its recent profile in settings far removed from the campus stadium conversation. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Is Making A Serious Push For A Florida DL Prize
Notre Dame has made it clear it wants to stay in the mix for Zylen Little, a Florida defensive tackle in the 2028 class who already has the kind of profile that draws attention across the country. Defensive line coach Charlie Partridge has shown strong interest in Little, who has been on campus in South Bend and has also taken trips to places like Auburn and Indiana while sorting through a growing list of offers.
Littles recruitment is still in its early stages, but it is moving fast for a player with a productive high school rsum and plenty of room to keep climbing. The Irish are trying to sell him on what their defensive line room can become, while other programs are making their own case, and the next round of visits could go a long way toward shaping where this one heads next. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Has One Big Preston Fryzel Question Before Fall Camp
Preston Fryzel arrived at Notre Dame with the kind of skill set that usually gets coaches talking about upside right away. The 2026 tight end recruit brings speed, route-running polish and enough versatility as a pass catcher to fit into a modern offense, and he also took the early-enrollment path so he could start adjusting to the college game sooner rather than later. For now, the focus has been on adding weight and getting comfortable with the physical demands that come with playing tight end at this level.
The bigger question heading into fall camp is how quickly that progress can translate into real snaps. Notre Dame has more immediate options at the position, including five-star Ian Premer, so Fryzels path looks more developmental than urgent, with his first chances likely coming in limited spots while he keeps building his body and learning the offense. If that timeline holds, the more meaningful payoff may come later, when he has had a full year to settle in and start pushing for a larger role. [Read more 🡒]