The Notre Dame Fighting Irish hovered on the edge of a College Football Playoff berth, consistently ranked ninth or 10th each week, until the first Sunday of December.
However, when the CFP committee released its final rankings, Notre Dame was slotted at No. 11, narrowly missing out on the 12-team playoff field. The decision pushed Miami up to No. 10 after the Hurricanes had previously been positioned at No. 12 before the final reshuffling of the rankings. In the aftermath of the snub, Notre Dame chose to opt out of bowl game participation for the remainder of the year.
Notre Dame is looking to make an elite comeback
Notre Dame released its 2026 schedule on Jan. 23, which quickly drew criticism for its perceived lack of difficulty. Outside of matchups against BYU, Miami, SMU and Navy, none of the Irish’s scheduled opponents won more than five games, raising questions about the strength of their path through the regular season.
There is also renewed optimism surrounding the roster. Notre Dame is set to return quarterback CJ Carr, marking the program’s first returning starter at the position since Ian Book in 2020. He was ranked 74th on Pro Football Focus’ list of the 101 best college football players during his first season as a starter.
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