Depending on who you ask, Notre Dame is either the most beloved or most hated team in college football. It doesn't feel like there's much in between. And yet, every year, the Fighting Irish and their fans try to argue that they shouldn't be the most hated in the country. That there are other teams far more worthy of hate than the team that wears the Golden Dome. CBS Sports analyst Brad Powers thinks things will never change in that regard and that Marcus Freeman and his squad should just embrace it. In fact, he believes they will embrace being the "villain" because in 2026, that might also mean beating everyone they face, soundly.
Powers wrote as much in his 10 College Football Playoff guarantees article in late June. However, he made it clear that he thinks the hate isn't coming from a real place of disdain, but more from envy this year, because of just how good the Irish could be.
"Disdain for the Fighting Irish will come easy this season -- and not because they are flawed. Quite the opposite, actually," Powers wrote. "Notre Dame is once again positioned as a legitimate national championship contender with a top-end roster, a favorable path to the playoff and the type of preseason hype that immediately puts a bullseye on its back."
"College football fans love underdogs, but they love rooting against perceived blue bloods even more."
CBS analyst says Notre Dame football should embrace being hated in 2026
The analyst also believes that some of the hate will stem from Notre Dame being independent. That's been the talk of the sport for the last year. Even coaches have openly complained that Marcus Freeman's program isn't just joining a conference.
The comments stem from the belief that the Irish have an easier road to the College Football Playoff because they can better control who they play and when. They also believe Notre Dame gets more benefit of the doubt than conference teams.
Illustrating this, Powers believes Notre Dame could lose two and maybe even three games, and still be considered one of the Top 12 teams in the CFP bracket. The CBS analyst is mostly alone in believing that, as other experts have all said the Irish really can't afford to lose more than one, and depending on the one, they may not even be able to afford that.
Still, schools like Ohio State or Alabama, who run through a gauntlet of conference opponents while the Fighting Irish face off against a much weaker ACC or Navy, feel like Freeman's crew has an obvious advantage of not being in a conference.
Beyond even that, the issue for most people, Powers believes, is that when Notre Dame is as good as it looks like it might be in 2026, people simply won't root for it anymore: "The Irish are no longer the program that gets mocked for merely making major bowls. They've become a consistent playoff participant with a roster capable of beating anyone. That shift changes the conversation. When you're winning double-digit games annually and recruiting at an elite level, people stop feeling sorry for you and start rooting for your downfall."
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