Rankings, ratings, chances, and more stuff about Notre Dame Football

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SOUTH BEND, IN – SEPTEMBER 20: Notre Dame Fighting Irish offensive lineman Sullivan Absher (75) celebrates during the game between the Purdue Boilermakers and Notre Dame Fighting Irish on September 20, 2025 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, IN. (Photo by Joseph Weiser/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

This has actually been a vacation week for me, so let’s catch up with the rest of the Notre Dame football news with a quick option play…

COMING IN HOT

According to the new preseason FPI rankings by ESPN, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the No. 3 team in the country behind the Ohio State Buckeyes at No. 1 and the Texas Longhorns at No. 2. Obviously any spot inside the top 5 is a nice badge of honor, but the FPI might have some issues we need to talk about.

NEW: ESPN FPI ahead of the 2026 College Football Season📈📉https://t.co/ZX8MOnZxU2 pic.twitter.com/hfx54OWHPP
— On3 (@On3) July 9, 2026

THE ISSUES WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT

Well — one big issue. The glazing of the SEC is beyond explanation. 12 teams (which if my math is right means almost 50% of the top 25) are from ESPN’s favorite group of girlfriends. Yes… this is the exact type of thing that happens every year as what the committee and pollsters use as OH MY GAWWWDDD THE ESSSSS EEEEEE SEEEEE IS AMAZING when ranking teams. It’s total BS, and is transparent as a car windshield.

🚨BREAKING (again): ESPN did that thing where they put 75% of SEC teams in their initial FPI so that it skews rankings the entire season.🚨
How long til our first GaUntLeT post touting all the top FPI teams in their schedule? https://t.co/wJEDo8ylpI
— Exposing SEC Bias (@overrated_sec) July 9, 2026

ADDITION BY SUBTRACTION?

The ACC is losing its top official. Will this actual help them from being the worst officiating conference in the country or not?

The ACC head of officiating is stepping down right before the 2026 season.
A search for a replacement is underway. pic.twitter.com/dAtrtgeigb
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) July 8, 2026

DOES NOTRE DAME HAVE THE BEST OFFENSIVE LINE IN THE COUNTRY?

Well, according to Landon Tengwall, they absolutely do. This bro put together almost an hour’s worth of film breakdown, and I highly recommend you give it a watch.

ST. JOE VS JOE SMITH

The word out there is that Notre Dame and BYU are possibly planning on more scheduled football games — and other sports as well. Is this a good thing or nah?

BYU AD Brian Santiago tells me there is interest from both BYU and Notre Dame to continue the series in football beyond 2026 and 2027. Also says they want to play each other in sports beyond just football.
— John Kurtz (@jlkurtz) July 7, 2026

THE BREAKS

Yes, Miami got a ton of good breaks last season. Can they do that again in 2026? Probably not, but anyways… read what Jaime Uyeyama wrote about the Canes.

Monitoring the injury situation with Miami in '26. Starting OL played all 16 games in '25, no key players out for any of CFP
Schedule set up extremely well for them in '25. First 6 of 7 at home, didn't leave Florida until November. Many more miles traveled in '26 including to ND https://t.co/7j2FFbmpwo pic.twitter.com/3zhwPvwxDs
— Jamie Uyeyama (@jamieuyeyama) July 9, 2026

THERE IS SOME DOUBT

Notre Dame’s mantra this season is LEAVE NO DOUBT. According to the ESPN playoff predictor, the Irish have a 74.4% chance of making the college football playoff — which is the second best in the country.

Chances to make the CFB Playoff, per ESPN FPI 🏟️ pic.twitter.com/N13dVPcsRP
— College Football Report (@CFBReport) July 9, 2026

LESS DOUBT (BUT LESS MEAT ON THAT BONE)

Notre Dame has long been considered one of the favorites to win the national championship this season, and some flat out have the Irish winning it all. Here’s an example of such using Polymarket — which doesn’t really move the needle for me, but it’s a thing (I guess).

🚨BREAKING: The Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the FAVORITE to be the 2027 College Football National Champions.
There is a 17% chance that Notre Dame is the next Champion, according to Polymarket.
It has been 38 years. Marcus Freeman is looking to change this.
👀 pic.twitter.com/Es1EyAIIHx
— MLFootball (@MLFootball) July 10, 2026

FUTURE PLAYOFF NEWS

We have some dates and locations locked down for the college football playoff.

The CFP announces dates and sites for the quarterfinals and semifinals through 2031-32: pic.twitter.com/h7hULjE8o3
— Matt Fortuna (@Matt_Fortuna) July 9, 2026

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