Notre Dame enters 2026 with sky-high expectations, but Josh Pate believes complacency could be the biggest threat to a playoff return.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish narrowly missed the opportunity to make consecutive appearances in the College Football Playoff in 2025. In 2024, under head coach Marcus Freeman, the Fighting Irish qualified for the playoff and advanced to the national championship, where they lost to the Ohio State Buckeyes.
The Fighting Irish finished the year with a record of 10-2 and were ranked No. 10 in the projected College Football Playoff field heading into the conference championship weekend. However, they fell behind the Miami Hurricanes in the final rankings, despite neither team playing that weekend. This shift likely happened in part because the BYU Cougars lost 34-7 to the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the Championship Game. BYU was previously ranked just behind Notre Dame and ahead of Miami. However, it fell back in the rankings, placing Notre Dame and Miami next to each other. As a result, the committee decided to recognize Miami's head-to-head victory over Notre Dame from their season opener. Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman takes the field with his players. | MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images"I'm worried about complacency with Marcus Freeman at Notre Dame because they were ranked number one in the Pate State pre-spring rankings," Pate said. "Nevertheless, they are number one in the country in returning production. Which does matter when it's the kind of production that Notre Dame has on its roster.". Notre Dame is bringing back 72% of its production from last season. On offense, they are returning 67%, which ranks 19th in the country. Defensively, they are returning 77% of their production, placing them at No. 2 in the nation. Pate believes that they should be strong at quarterback with CJ Carr leading the team. He also mentioned that their schedule looks "workable." In his first year as the starter, Carr threw for 2,741 yards, completed 66.6% of his passes, and threw 24 touchdowns along with six interceptions. Regarding the schedule, Notre Dame will play road games against the Purdue Boilermakers, North Carolina Tar Heels, BYU Cougars and Syracuse Orange. Additionally, they have neutral-site games at Lambeau Field against the Wisconsin Badgers and at Gillette Stadium against the Navy Midshipmen. The more challenging games for the Fighting Irish will be at home, where they will face the SMU Mustangs and the Miami Hurricanes. If the team remains focused this season, they could return to the College Football Playoff in 2026 and potentially end a nearly four-decade national championship drought.Jaron Spor has nearly a decade of journalism experience, initially as a news anchor/reporter in Wichita Falls, Texas and then covering the Oklahoma Sooners for USA Today's Sooners Wire. He has written about pro and college sports for Athlon and serves as a host across the Locked On Podcast Network focusing on Mississippi State and the Tampa Bay Bucs.Top-Five Best College Football Recruiting Head CoachesNotre Dame vs. Vanderbilt Prediction, Odds, Key Player for Women's NCAA Tournament Sweet 16
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