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Notre Dame Football: Irish to face four PFF top-25 teams in 2021

By Brad Weiss

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - JANUARY 01: Head coach Brian Kelly and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players run on the field during player introductions before the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Bowl football game against the Alabama Crimson Tide at AT&T Stadium on January 01, 2021 in Arlington, Texas. The Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 31-14. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - JANUARY 01: Head coach Brian Kelly and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players run on the field during player introductions before the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Bowl football game against the Alabama Crimson Tide at AT&T Stadium on January 01, 2021 in Arlington, Texas. The Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 31-14. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images) /
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The Notre Dame Football team has a tough 2021 schedule ahead, as they will face some of the better teams in college football.

Last season, the Notre Dame football team ran through their regular-season slate, beating every team in front of them, and clinching a spot in the ACC Championship Game. After that, it was all downhill, as they lost in the ACC title game and then were bounced in the semifinal of the College Football Playoff.

Still, it was a nice run for the Irish, who once again won more than ten games, and made their second CFP in the last three seasons. As we look towards the 2021 campaign, there are a lot of key pieces to replace, but still, the Irish are considered one of the top-10 teams going into the next slate.

Recently, Pro Football Focus ranked all 130 FBS teams heading into the 2021 college football season, and the Notre Dame football squad was No. 8 overall. Despite all the turnover from last year’s roster, the Irish are still one of the premier teams in college football, and this ranking heading into the summer seems about right.

Notre Dame Football to take on four top-25 teams

Looking at the rest of the rankings, the Irish will have to go up against four top-25 teams in 2021, including the highest-ranking team, the North Carolina Tar Heels at No. 11. Notre Dame easily beat the Tar Heels last season, holding down the dominant running back tandem of Javonte Williams and Michael Carter, but quarterback Sam Howell returns as a Heisman candidate.

Other ranked teams include Cincinnati at No. 12, Wisconsin at No. 14, and USC at No. 16 overall.

This year’s team has a lot of talent on both sides of the ball, including at linebacker, where I expect Drew White to have a monster season. White will benefit from a linebacker genius at defensive coordinator in Marcus Freeman and already has shown himself to be a leader on this team.

The schedule lays out pretty kindly for the Irish, who play a ton of games at home, and will actually get to go to Soldier Field and take on Wisconsin. That will be a revenge game for quarterback Jack Coan, who led the Badgers to a Big Ten title game two years ago, and will be looking to take over the Irish as a graduate transfer.

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