A favorable schedule and transfer portal additions propel Notre Dame into the top four of early playoff projections, fueled by rising star QB CJ Carr.
It's never too early to start thinking about the 2026 College Football Playoffs, right? For Notre Dame fans, myself included, the thought of the upcoming playoffs has been on our mind since December 7, 2025.
The chance at redemption from last season's snub is still top-of-mind for many across the Notre Dame fanbase. Falling in line with the 'Way-Too-Early' trend, is CBS Sports, who released their 2026 College Football Playoff Projections earlier this morning. The Fighting Irish found themselves in the top four.
"Graced with a playoff assurance next season and a schedule that's the most favorable in the country among contenders, it would take a cataclysmic fall for the Fighting Irish not to be included in the 12-team bracket," Brad Crawford of CBS Sports explained. "Notre Dame plucked a half-dozen new likely starters from the transfer market and anticipates a Heisman-like season out of rising sophomore quarterback CJ Carr, who won 10 straight starts to end his freshman campaign."
Big picture, as far as where they're seeded, I have zero issues with this ranking overall. I also have Notre Dame receiving a first round bye this year. The Irish return head coach Marcus Freeman who is going into his fifth year, offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock who is going into his third year and defensive coordinator Chris Ash who overcame the rough start in 2025 and returns for his second season.
They also return their starting quarterback for the first time since 2020, three starting offensive lineman in left tackle Anthonie Knapp, center Ashton Craig and right guard Guerby Lambert and two starting wide receivers in Jordan Faison and Jaden Greathouse on offense to go along with impactful portal pick ups from Ohio State in wide receivers Quincy Porter and Mylan Graham.
Defensively, they return both starting defensive ends, Jason Onye at defensive tackle, their entire linebacker rotation from 2025 featuring Drayk Bowen, Jaiden Ausberry, Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, Jaylen Sneed and Madden Faraimo. On the back end, they return Christian Gray, Tae Johnson, Adon Shuler and Unanimous All-American cornerback Leonard Moore.
Unfortunately, the analysis of Notre Dame and their spot in the way-too-early projections didn't include any coach and only mentioned one player, CJ Carr. Their backing for putting the Irish in the top four came down to two things: getting 'graced with a playoff assurance' and 'a schedule that's the most favorable in the country among contenders'.
This is the type of shallow analysis that continues to the drive the national narrative around Notre Dame further down. At the top, we can agree that the Irish will be amongst one of the best teams in the country, but the rationale behind the ranking is where it's lost. This is a talented, deep and very experienced football team that is operating at an extremely high level over the last few seasons.
If you took this roster, coaching staff and resume and put them in burnt orange and white, shipped them out west to Eugene or changed their name to the Crimson Tide there'd be no mention of their schedule or a 'playoff assurance', which the winners of P4 conferences now get regardless of ranking.
Notre Dame has a top five roster in the country, and they aren't 5th. Is their schedule a gauntlet? No. Is playing teams like BYU (No. 12 on CBS Sports Way-Too-Early Top 25), Miami (No. 13 on CBS Sports Way-Too-Early Top 25) and SMU (No. 23 on CBS Sports Way-Too-Early Top 25) a walk in the park? Also no. This is a team that is poised to make a run in 2026, and will put people on notice along the way.
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