Notre Dame is getting treated like one of college football’s heavyweights for 2026, and CBS Sports analyst Brad Powers is buying all the way in.
Powers put the Fighting Irish in his top tier of national championship frontrunners, alongside Ohio State, Oregon, Miami and Georgia, and he made it clear he sees more than just preseason buzz here. In his view, Notre Dame has the kind of roster that can run right through the regular season.
“ This season is Marcus Freeman's time to shine,” Powers wrote. “Not only do the Fighting Irish welcome back several All-American candidates on both sides of the ball, but they'll face only a couple of teams during the regular season capable of matching them athletically.”
He also pointed to the quarterback situation as a major reason for the optimism. CJ Carr is coming off his first year as a starter, and Powers thinks people are going to be late to the party if they wait too long to get on board.
“Notre Dame is college football's villain this fall for a reason after last season's CFP snub, and the Fighting Irish are out for blood. Get on the CJ Carr bandwagon now because there's going to be no more room when Notre Dame starts 6-0 with ease.”
The setup around Carr is part of why Notre Dame looks so dangerous. The Irish bring back veteran wide receivers, and the defense has plenty going for it too. Coordinator Chris Ash believes that side of the ball is as good as it gets, with talent spread across linebacker, the defensive backfield and the defensive line.
Powers said the five teams he listed are the ones he’s comfortable treating as playoff locks, regardless of order.
“These are the five programs that are clear national championship frontrunners, no matter who you ask inside the sport. In no particular order, these are the teams I'm comfortable penciling in as playoff locks this fall. Some have favorable schedules relative to their talent, while others have limitless resources that dwarf most of the Power Four.”
Notre Dame’s place in that group also makes the Sept. 20 matchup with Miami look enormous. For Marcus Freeman’s team, it could function like an unofficial College Football Playoff game. If the Hurricanes beat the Irish for a second straight season, and given how manageable the rest of Notre Dame’s schedule is, that could end the Irish’s CFP hopes.
Miami has a little more margin for error, but not much. The ACC is not especially strong, and the Hurricanes have a habit of taking at least one ugly loss each year. That means a loss in South Bend could end up feeling like their unofficial season-ender, too.
In Other News...
Notre Dame Coaches Who Left The Deepest Scars On USC And Army
Notre Dames coaching legacy is often measured in championships and national relevance, but the rivalries with USC and Army have always given that history extra bite. A look back at the programs most successful eras shows how much the men on the sideline shaped those matchups, with Lou Holtz, Brian Kelly, Frank Leahy and Knute Rockne all leaving their mark in games that Irish fans still remember well.
Holtz set the tone with a dominant run against USC, Kelly compiled a strong record there as well, and Leahys success against the Trojans came with the added weight of high-stakes games when both teams were near the top of the rankings. Rocknes place in the rivalry conversation stretches beyond USC too, because his teams also handled Army with the kind of edge that helped define Notre Dames early identity and still colors how those coaching eras are judged today. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Still Has Major Offensive Battles To Settle Before Wisconsin
Fall camp is going to do a lot of the sorting for Notre Dame on offense before the Irish ever get to Wisconsin. The starting quarterback job is expected to be settled, but plenty of other spots are still open, and the staff has real decisions to make at running back, boundary receiver, tight end and even behind the No. 1 quarterback. For a team trying to build continuity early in the season, those are not small questions, especially with several younger players and transfers pushing to carve out roles.
At running back, Aneyas Williams looks like the early favorite, though there is enough competition in the room to keep that from being a done deal. The receiver picture is just as unsettled, with Quincy Porter, Micah Gilbert and Cam Williams all in the mix after Malachi Fields' departure, and the tight end group still sorting out who will earn meaningful snaps behind Cooper Flanagan. Even the backup quarterback job remains open, which means the next few weeks should tell a lot about how much depth Notre Dame really has before the schedule starts to tighten. [Read more 🡒]
Zayden Gamble Just Teased Another Notre Dame DB Surprise
Notre Dames 2027 recruiting class already sits at 23 commits, and the defensive back group has been one of the more active areas of the board. Zayden Gamble added to that buzz on social media, hinting that there could be another DB coming into the fold and giving the Irish a little more intrigue in a class that is already taking shape.
The part that stands out is not just the possibility of another addition, but the way Gamble framed it, suggesting there is a name in mind even though nothing has been announced. For now, the Irish are left waiting on whether this is simply recruiting chatter or the lead-up to another flip that would give the secondary room to keep growing. [Read more 🡒]