There's quite a bit of excitement around the Notre Dame football team heading into the 2026 season. Winning 10 games in a row to end the campaign will do that. Among those who believe the Fighting Irish can be good is Greg McElroy, who believes the Fighting Irish should even be considered the No. 1-ranked team when people start doing their preseason rankings.
"Heading into 2026, the Irish aren't just talented," McElroy said during a recent episode of his podcast. "Some publications have them as the number one ranked roster in the country. When it synthesized the recruiting and the portal rankings and all this other stuff, why is 2026 going to be different?"
"Well, it's because it feels like for the first time in eternity. Notre Dame isn't starting a new quarterback. I mean, we've seen the Sam Hartmans. We've seen the Riley Leonards. We've seen talented guys. But in many ways, they're kind of mercenaries, one-year rentals."
Friend of the pod @GregMcElroy believes Notre Dame should be/could be preseason No. 1 entering next season.pic.twitter.com/0SPhu16Ba1
— Pete Sampson (@PeteSampson_) January 30, 2026
Why Greg McElroy believes Notre Dame football should be ranked No. 1
McElroy isn't the only person thinking Carr is poised for a big 2026. He's among the odds-on favorites to win the Heisman trophy this season.
The analyst also believes a returning quarterback is a big deal in an era where there's so much player movement due to the portal.
"While other teams are installing new terminology. and feeling out their new portal quarterbacks. CJ Carr and [Mike]Denbrock they'll be playing chess while everyone else is still playing checkers. It's right now ... He's not just managing this offense. He's going to be weaponizing it for sure. You're no longer kind of a possession passing attack. You are a vertical nightmare."
"This is probably the fastest wide receiver core that we've seen in South Bend in quite a while. They have riches at the running back spot that you wouldn't believe, I think they're going to be just fine. But there is star power that will need to be replaced. So this year's group might be a little bit more of a blue-collar committee."
Notre Dame is loaded up to have a very good season, along with a schedule that isn't anywhere near as tough (especially at the start of the season) as it has been in the past.