Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame have made it clear they expect a different end to the 2026 season, and it appears most national analysts believe the same.
With the official end to the 2025 college football season on Monday, those national analysts are starting to put together "way too early" Top 25 rankings. If there was any thought that people believed the Fighting Irish don't deserve to be considered a National Title contender, these lists put that to rest.
One of the first to be released, On3's Top 25 shows that there are still plenty of believers in Notre Dame. Its analysts believe the Irish deserve to be ranked at No. 4 to open the 2026 season. That's certainly well within the boundaries of contending for a title.
Marcus Freeman’s roster reload earns Notre Dame early national trust
"This season should be vastly different for Notre Dame after last year's disappointing College Football Playoff snub and then opting out of a bowl game," Brett McMurphy wrote.
"The Irish lose star running back Jeremiyah Love, but return a lot of other key players, including quarterback CJ Carr and several defensive standouts: linebackers Drayk Bowen and Jaylen Sneed, defensive end Boubacar Traore, cornerback Christian Gray and safety Adon Shuler."
"The Irish's defense could be one of the nation's best and should dominate a schedule featuring only two teams in On3's Way Too Early Top 25 (No. 9 Miami and No. 13 BYU)."
Nicholas Rome for Saturday Blitz echoed McMurphy, also putting the Irish at No. 4 to start the New Year.
"The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are going to be playing in 2026 with a massive chip on their shoulders after being left on the outside looking in of the College Football Playoff. After a 10-2 season, Notre Dame does lose some incredible pieces, but Marcus Freeman has shown an ability to reload year over year."
There's still a long row to hoe before any of the analysts can be proved right. However, it's clear that Notre Dame didn't suffer any long-term damage from being left out of the College Football Playoff field. Granted, considering they'll also enter 2026 with a 10-game win streak, only the defending National Champion Indiana Hoosiers enter the season on a longer hot streak.