Coach Marcus Freeman’s Notre Dame Fighting Irish are once again preseason favorites to reach the College Football Playoff and even dark horses to win the national championship next season.
The Fighting Irish controversially missed the playoffs last season on Selection Sunday after recovering from a poor start to win their last 10 games.
Analyst Raises Notre Dame Playoff Concern
During this week’s segment of the “Cover 3” podcast, analyst Danny Kanell picked the Fighting Irish as national championship contenders but highlighted one potential stumbling block to glory.
“I like to unload when the stock feels like it’s a little top-heavy and everybody is in on it; that, to me, is the Notre Dame Fighting Irish,” Kanell said. “There’s a lot of predictions for them to be in the college football playoff, but this one really to me is about the ceiling of what they could be. I am selling Notre Dame as a national championship contender.”
“Their lack of competition in the regular season, which is only a three-game schedule with BYU, SMU, and Miami, I think that eventually comes back to haunt them in the postseason,” Kannell added. “What did we see last year with Ohio State? Perfect in the regular season, they go to the Big Ten title, get beat by Indiana. Go to the playoff, get beat by Miami, the first time they were really battle-tested. I think we could see the same outcome from Notre Dame.”
“I am selling Notre Dame as a national championship contender…
I think their lack of competition in the regular season — I think that comes back to haunt them in the postseason.” — @dannykanell 👀@Cover3Podcast pic.twitter.com/BrYKJCazjk
— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) August 12, 2026
Freeman has revitalized the Fighting Irish since succeeding Brian Kelly in 2021 and has built one of the most fearsome rosters in college football.
The Fighting Irish reached the national championship game during the 2024 season, losing to the Ohio State Buckeyes in a disappointing matchup.
Notre Dame lost six players to the 2026 NFL Draft, including influential running backs Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price. On the other hand, Freeman’s team had one of the lowest roster turnovers in college football. The team lost around 20 players to the transfer portal and signed seven players in the No. 8 overall portal class in the country.
The Fighting Irish will have preseason Heisman Trophy favorite CJ Carr under center next season.
The talented quarterback distinguished himself as one of the best returning quarterbacks in college football, earning a PFN College QB Impact score of 85.9 after tallying 2,741 passing yards, 24 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions, adding 33 rushing yards and 3 scores.
After missing out on the 12-team College Football Playoff field last season, the Fighting Irish opted out of the Pop-Tarts Bowl. As a result, the College Football Playoff committee guaranteed the independent Notre Dame a spot in the playoff next season if they finish in the top 12 of the final ranking.
