Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman has had a turbulent offseason, coupled with his high-flying Fighting Irish team being snubbed from the 12-team College Football Playoff field in favor of the Miami Hurricanes. The Fighting Irish shocked the college football world when they opted out of postseason games in protest.
Freeman also resisted the bright lights of the NFL to stay in South Bend, while retaining a big portion of his roster to ramp up the excitement ahead of next season.
Marcus Freeman’s CFP Snub Tabbed To Fuel Playoff Run
After last season’s brutal omission from the playoff, PFSN analyst Ryan Guthrie tabbed the Fighting Irish to use the snub as fuel for a stunning College Football Playoff run next season.
“8.6% chance to win the national championship (PFSN CFP Playoff Meter). Nobody enters 2026 with a bigger chip on their shoulder,” Guthrie wrote. “Notre Dame was left out of the CFP in 2025 at the final moment, and Marcus Freeman has made it clear: don’t leave it up to the committee again.
“The Irish boast one of the best retention rates in the country, continuing to recruit and develop at an elite level. Despite losing two key running backs, including Heisman finalist Jeremiyah Love, expect QB CJ Carr to take on a larger role. Freeman’s teams remain balanced, finishing top-10 on both offense and defense in PFSN Impact Grades.”
After the dust had settled in January, Freeman challenged his team to leave no room for doubt about the Fighting Irish’s place in the College Football Playoff next season with a flawless regular season.
Fighting Irish Score High in Preseason Ranking
During Sunday’s segment of the “Josh Pate College Football Show,” analyst Josh Pate chose the Fighting Irish as the No. 1 in a stacked field in a way-too-early top 25 ranking ahead of next season.
“The No. 1 team in an extremely, egregiously way-too-early top 25 is Notre Dame. Because they have everything I would want in a No. 1 team in early February,” Pate said. “They have C. J Carr at quarterback, and they have a very good roster. And they’ve got an extremely good staff. They’re machine-like in staffing right now.
“They’re snatching guys up that are coordinators in other conferences. They’ve got the hunger. They went to a national championship game two years ago, lost. They, according to some, were robbed of a playoff spot this past year. It’s all there, they won’t have to worry about hunger and motivation and all that stuff.”
After Notre Dame’s College Football Playoff snub, the program has regularly stolen the headlines, including Freeman’s NFL interest, athletic director Pete Bevacqua declaring open war on the ACC, and the program suspending its long-running rivalry series against the USC Trojans to set up an intriguing 2026 season.
