Is Marcus Freeman’s dream season doomed? Brett McMurphy's playoff prediction says yes

The Notre Dame football team is officially preparing for the regular season and what most think will be a playoff run. Analysts believe the Irish are going to make some noise, but where they disagree is just how much noise Marcus Freeman's squad will make.

Count Brett McMurphy among those that doesn't believe the Blue and Gold are doing all that much. One of the newest additions to On3 rolled out his playoff bracket predictions, and it's... not good.

In fact, while Freeman has won over plenty of national analysts over the last year, he still needs to convince McMurphy. The Notre Dame football head coach has his work cut out for him, considering that, according to the analysts, the Irish will be sunk in the semifinals as they lose to Ohio State again.

Notre Dame football pegged as No. 1 seed but predicted to fall to Ohio State in CFP semifinal

What makes this playoff prediction especially galing is that he also has Notre Dame as the No. 1 seed, or the top-ranked team in the nation, when the playoffs start.

The Golden Domers will get a first-round bye and take on Oregon after the Ducks knock off LSU. While the Irish will be able to beat the Big Ten power, they won't be able to do it again, according to McMurphy. After Ohio State knocks off the Texas Longhorns, the Buckeyes are expected by the analyst to once again be a thorn in the side of Freeman.

The On3 writer then believes the Georgia Bulldogs will beat Ryan Day's boys in the College Football Playoff Finals.

One has to think that losing to OSU once again will grind more than a few Notre Dame football gears. Perhaps this can serve as a bit of a motivator for a team that will need every edge it can get in 2025.