Notre Dame football: Way too early 2023 record prediction

With the college football season officially in the books, we’re predicting what record Notre Dame football will finish with during 2023. While it’s way too early to get an accurate sense of what the team will be like over 7 months from now, it’s never too early to talk about Notre Dame football.

The schedule won’t get much easier next season as they’ll face all of Ohio State, Clemson, and USC in back-to-back seasons. Not only will they play 3 teams that will assuredly be in the preseason top 25, but you may be able to lump Duke in with that group. Under Mike Elko, the Blue Devils are much improved on the football field and could give the Irish some trouble when they meet next season.

The best-case scenario is that Sam Hartman gives this offense enough firepower to overcome the big 3 next season, regardless of how the defense performs. The worst case is the Irish drop every one of those games or more in what would be a disappointing year. However, for my prediction, I’m putting the Irish at 10-2 overall, just missing the college football playoffs.

Looking at the teams they play next year, the only team I think will be tough to beat is USC. Given how surprisingly weak our offensive line looked against their inferior defense, Sam Hartman must have a monster game to win. But, of course, I also say that with all due respect to another opponent in Ohio State. With CJ Stroud moving on, their quarterback situation will be far from certain. That could be a recipe for disaster for the Buckeyes.

Still, it’s hard to pick Notre Dame against a team with an abundance of speed on both sides of the football. If the Irish go 10-2 while only losing to USC and Ohio State next year, no fan could be too down about that result. The team has been recruiting at a high level, and their future classes look just as strong. It will surprise me if the Irish aren’t regular attendees to the expanded 12-team college football playoffs.

The transfer portal and summer could change a lot between now and then, but that’s for another time. My pick is for the Notre Dame football program to finish at an improved 10-2 overall next season. Of course, I’d be thrilled if that first number was a bit higher.