NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

Now that half of college football is through spring training and have completed their annual spring games, it's time for updated way-too-early Top 25 rankings to be released. ESPN's Mark Schlabach released his second edition earlier this week and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish remained amongst the top five teams but were one spot down from his initial rankings going from No. 3 to No. 4 in his way-too-early rankings. 

"After being left out of the CFP, the Fighting Irish should be right back in the mix in 2026," Schlabach explained. "There's no question the Irish will miss Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price, who combined to run for 2,046 yards with 29 touchdowns last season. Aneyas Williams, who averaged 9.3 yards per carry, is the heir apparent.

"Quarterback CJ Carr should be even better in his second season as a starter, especially if the Irish can get Mylan Graham and Quincy Porter going, and Jaden Greathouse returns from a hamstring injury," Schlabach continued. "Nine of the defense's top 10 tacklers are back from 2025. Notre Dame figures to be heavily favored in all but two games — home against Miami and at BYU." 

Love and Price were named in Schlabach's 'key players lost' category along with receiver Malachi Fields, tight end Eli Raridon, offensive tackle Aamil Wagner and safety Jalen Stroman. Oddly enough, left guard and fellow captain Billy Schrauth was left off this list, but understandable due to the injury his sustained against USC which ended up being the final game of his Notre Dame career. 

There's loads of talent in Schlabach's 'key additions' category including both Ohio State receivers, defensive tackles Francis Brewu (Pitt) and Tionne Gray (Oregon), defensive end Keon Keeley (Alabama), cornerbacks Jayden Sanders (Michigan) and DJ McKinney (Colorado) and kicker Spencer Porath (Purdue). This also doesn't include the members from No. 1 recruiting class in the country according to On3. 

My Thoughts

Overall, I don't have too many problems with the rankings overall. Personally, I wouldn't have put Notre Dame behind Georgia but when we started debating who should be No. 3 and who should be No. 4, the difference is marginal. There's only a couple rankings overall that I see completely different and the first is Ole Miss. Yes, they return quarterback Trinidad Chambliss who was granted another year of eligibility, but their roster overall and their coaching losses don't warrant a Top 10 ranking in my opinion. 

The biggest head scratcher of the rankings is Penn State at No. 15 ahead of teams like Alabama, Washington and Utah. The Nittany Lions finished last season 7-6 overall and 3-6 in the Big 10 and lost the majority of it's NFL-talent to the portal or to the draft. Under Schlabach's 'key additions' category, every player except one is from Iowa State. Obviously, the influx of Cyclones players is due to the fact that their head coach, Matt Campbell, is now the head coach in Happy Valley. 

I pose this question: if you take away the logo and conference affiliation, would a roster made up of Iowa State players and an Iowa State head coach be ranked as a Top 15 preseason team? Personally, I don't think they would. Out of the entire ranking, Penn State's ranking at No. 15 is the one I disagree with the most. Michigan at No. 14 is a stretch, but at least there's an argument to be had with the Wolverines more than one to be made for the Nittany Lions. 

Overall, this is a pretty solid ranking, and the ESPN-SEC bias isn't really shown here too strongly. Out of the Power 4 conferences, there's eight Big 10 teams, eight SEC teams, five Big 12 teams, three ACC teams and Notre Dame. It's easy to critique a list when you haven't released an updated version of your own, so be on the lookout for Irish Breakdown's post-spring way-too-early Top 25 which will be coming out here in the coming weeks. 

ESPN's Way-Too-Early Top 25

1. Ohio State Buckeyes
2. Oregon Ducks
3. Georgia Bulldogs
4. Notre Dame Fighting Irish 
5. Texas Longhorns 
6. Indiana Hoosiers
7. Miami Hurricanes
8. Texas Tech Red Raiders
9. Ole Miss Rebels
10. Texas A&M Aggies
11. LSU Tigers
12. BYU Cougars
13. Oklahoma Sooners
14. Michigan Wolverines
15. Penn State Nittany Lions
16. Alabama Crimson Tide
17. Washington Huskies
18. Utah Utes
19. Iowa Hawkeyes
20. USC Trojans
21. Louisville Cardinals 
22. SMU Mustangs
23. TCU Horned Frogs
24. Houston Cougars
25. Tennessee Volunteers 

——- 

BECOME A MEMBER

Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!

Join the Irish Breakdown community!
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown YouTube channel
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown podcast on iTunes
Follow me on Twitter: @TTrow5
Like and follow Irish Breakdown on Facebook

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos