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

Notre Dame and Michigan State have met 79 times on the gridiron and the Irish lead the all-time series 49-29-1. These two programs have competed in some of the most memorable football games in college football. In 1966, their game was tabbed as 'The Game of the Century' and have featured several great games along the way including more recent matchups in 2005, 2006 and 2010. Lately, however, these two teams have met sparingly on the football field and even less on the recruiting trail. 

Once a unique recruiting power, Michigan State has fallen from the ranks after the product on the field started to take a dip. Meanwhile, the Fighting Irish and head coach Marcus Freeman have put together one of the most daunting recruiting operations in college football. Michigan State has had a history of getting the most out of their talent and putting together really good teams. Will that be the case for the Spartans and first year head coach Pat Fitzgerald in 2026? 

Let's look at how these two teams stack up in the recruiting rankings using Rivals/On3 composite rankings to compare. 

Notre Dame Offense vs Michigan State Defense

One common theme of the 2026 season for the Irish is that their recruiting rankings, on paper, will significantly beat out any program on their regular season schedule short of the Miami Hurricanes. The same case is true for the Michigan State Spartans. Four of their starting defensive players were unranked recruits coming out of high school, but we know how much weight to put in that seeing that Notre Dame's No. 1 receiver, Jordan Faison, came to college as a lacrosse recruit. 

The interesting matchup here will be in the trenches. Notre Dame's lowest ranked recruit coming out of high school, after Faison, is center Ashton Craig (No. 504) who was a three-star recruiting. Two of Michigan State's highest ranked recruits live on the defensive line in four-star defensive tackle Ben Roberts (No. 338) and four-star edge rusher Keahnist Thompson (No. 383). Roberts will be matched up routinely with Craig. Their battle will go a long way in the Irish establishing a ground attack Saturday night. 

As far as the matchups Notre Dame will have to take advantage of, their outlook on the perimeter is outstanding. Two of their starting wide receivers, four-star recruits Jaden Greathouse (No. 158) and Micah Gilbert (No. 230) will be matched up against corners Tre Bell and Tyran Chappell who were both unranked coming out of high school. Their highest ranked recruit at cornerback, Charles Brantley (No. 632), will rotate in. 

Notre Dame Defense vs Michigan State Offense

Similar to the offensive side of the ball, the recruiting matchup heavily favors the Fighting Irish. Five of Michigan State's starters were unranked prospects coming out of high school, but the majority of them have played above their ranking similar to Notre Dame star cornerback Leonard Moore (No. 351) who was a three-star recruit coming out of high school. 

Running back Cam Edwards was unranked coming out of high school but has proven his worth through two games with the Spartans. He transferred in from UNCONN after rushing for 1,240 yards and 15 touchdowns for the Huskies in 2025. Right guard Nick Sharpe (No. 1407) was a three-star coming out of high school but has moved on to be the Spartan's best interior offensive line and arguably their best lineman overall. He was on Irish Breakdown's all-opponent team. 

Notre Dame's defensive line has been dominant through two games this season, and Saturday night, they'll have the opportunity to continue that trend going against two unranked players coming out of high school and three three-star recruits in Sharpe and right tackle Rakeem Johnson. The entire rotation for Notre Dame's defensive tackles were three-star recruits coming out of high school So far, through two games, their high school rankings haven't inhibited them from being game wreckers. Hopefully, that will continue being the case this Saturday night. 

CLASS RANKINGS

Here are the class rankings of the two programs from the last five seasons (247 Composite Rankings) 

Notre Dame

2026 – 5
2025 – 12 
2024 – 9
2023 – 12
2022 – 7

Michigan State

2026 – 45
2025 – 57
2024 – 42
2023 – 22
2022 – 23

Advantage: Notre Dame

—— 

Become a premium Irish Breakdown member, which grants you access to all of our premium content and our premium message board! Click on the link below for more.

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