ESPN Projects Notre Dame To Play For The National Championship In 2026
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Notre Dame continues to get loads of preseason hype and the latest comes from ESPN. In its final preseason playoff prediction, ESPN College Football writers Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach both have the Irish playing for the national championship this season.
Bonagura has Notre Dame entering the field as the No. 2 seeded team and Schlabach has the Irish seeded as the No. 3 seeded team. Both have the Irish playing Ohio State in the national title game in Las Vegas. Both also have a pair of Notre Dame opponents — Miami and BYU — also making the College Football Playoff this season. Both are slated for a rematch with the Irish in the playoffs.
Here is a look at Bonagura's playoff field, beginning with the first round.
5 Georgia vs 12 Boise State
6 Oregon vs 11 BYU
7 Miami vs 10 Ole Miss
8 Texas Tech vs 9 Alabama
Bonagura has all four higher seeds advancing to the quarterfinals, and here are those matchups.
1 Ohio State vs 8 Texas Tech (Rose Bowl)
2 Notre Dame vs 7 Miami (Cotton Bowl)
3 Texas vs 6 Oregon (Peach Bowl)
4 Indiana vs 5 Georgia (Fiesta Bowl)
Bonagura has the Irish winning a rematch against the Hurricanes. Here's a look at his semifinal matchups.
1 Ohio State vs 4 Indiana (Orange Bowl)
2 Notre Dame vs 3 Texas (Sugar Bowl)
He has the Irish and Buckeyes playing in a rematch of the 2024 national title game.
Here is a look at Schlabach's playoff field, beginning with the first round.
5 Texas vs 12 Boise State
6 BYU vs 11 Texas A&M
7 Miami vs 10 LSU
8 Indiana vs 9 Texas Tech
Schlabach also has all four higher seeds winning their first round games and advancing to the semifinals.
1 Ohio State vs 8 Indiana (Rose Bowl)
2 Georgia vs 7 Miami (Cotton Bowl)
3 Notre Dame vs BYU (Peach Bowl)
4 Oregon vs 5 Texas (Fiesta Bowl)
Schlabach has the Irish winning their rematch against BYU and advancing to the semifinals. Here is a look at his semifinal matchups.
1 Ohio State vs 4 Oregon (Orange Bowl)
2 Georgia vs 3 Notre Dame (Sugar Bowl)
Notre Dame beating Georgia in the semifinals is the only game where either writer has a lower seed winning a game in the playoff.
There are a number of intriguing projections here. In both instances the ESPN writers have the Irish playing in the Sugar Bowl against a SEC team in the semifinals. Bonagura has them matched up against Texas and Schlabach has them projected to play against Georgia. If he's right in the matchup and the outcome, it would mark the second time in three seasons that Notre Dame beat the Bulldogs in SEC country in the playoff. Notre Dame is in the Cotton Bowl against Miami in Bonagura's projection and in the Peach Bowl against the Cougars.
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