Notre Dame enters the summer as a consensus top-five team in college football.<\/p>\n
Where the Irish land in that top five, though, is anyone\u2019s guess. Blue & Gold surveyed seven post-spring top-25 rankings and got four different answers, from No. 5 all the way up to No. 1.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s where Notre Dame ranks in the national experts\u2019 post-spring top 25s.<\/p>\n
Fox Sports (Joel Klatt): No. 2<\/p>\n
Team ranked ahead: Oregon<\/p>\n
\u201cI love a team that\u2019s pissed off, and Notre Dame is going to be ready from Jump Street. You think Marcus Freeman<\/a>\u2018s not going to have the attention of his team after the way last season ended? That was a team that felt like it could make a run to the national championship.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis will be an offense more centered around quarterback CJ Carr, with running backs Jeremiyah Love<\/a> and Jadarian Price<\/a> going to the NFL. But Notre Dame does have its two top receivers returning (Jordan Faison<\/a>, Jaden Greathouse<\/a>) and got two really good wide receivers in the portal (Quincy Porter<\/a>, Mylan Graham<\/a>).\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe Fighting Irish have a ton of experience coming back in the trenches. Four returning starters on the offensive line to go with a defense that will probably be the top defense in all of college football. They\u2019ve got five of their seven starters back up front.\u201d<\/p>\n Source: 2026 College Football Rankings: Oregon, Notre Dame Highlight Post-Spring Top 25<\/a><\/p>\n On3 (JD PicKell): No. 5<\/p>\n Teams ranked ahead: Miami, Oregon, Ohio State, Georgia<\/p>\n \u201cI think Notre Dame is probably the most explainable team in college football. No. 1 in returning production. Lost two games by two plays a year ago. Bring back a quarterback that is thought to be the Heisman Trophy frontrunner. I\u2019m here for all of that.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t really have a lot to add about Notre Dame. I think the thing with them is, you just kind of have to wait and see what they actually are when they spot the ball, because on paper, there\u2019s not a lot to really unpack or have a super intense conversation about. The reason why they\u2019re at 5 for me and not any higher is, I am trusting that that run game is going to be awesome yet again in \u201926. With that being said, don\u2019t we kind of have to account for the fact that you lost your best playmakers in Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price a year ago?<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re splitting hairs here when it comes to 8 through 1, in my opinion. If you had them at 1, I don\u2019t think you\u2019re all that off-base, quite frankly.\u201d<\/p>\n Source: College Football Post Spring Top 25 Rankings | Georgia, Miami, Ohio State, Texas, LSU<\/a><\/p>\n CBS Sports (consensus): No. 4<\/p>\n Teams ranked ahead: Ohio State, Texas, Oregon<\/p>\n \u201cThere is some agreement among the top five teams with Ohio State,\u00a0Texas,\u00a0Oregon,\u00a0Notre Dame\u00a0and\u00a0Georgia\u00a0all carrying average ballot rankings of 4.6 or better, but the wide dispersion of votes for the group leaves us with a clear tier of contenders but almost no agreement on the order. Those five teams, plus reigning national champion Indiana and last year\u2019s runner-up Miami (who also got a first-place vote), are the teams our group has collectively found to be the true top tier in the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n Source: CBS Sports 138: Ohio State edges out Texas for No. 1 in post-spring college football rankings<\/a><\/p>\n USA Today Sports (Erick Smith and Paul Myerberg): No. 2<\/p>\n Team ranked ahead: Ohio State<\/p>\n \u201cThis shapes up to be Marcus Freeman\u2019s best team. There are no questions at quarterback with CJ Carr<\/a> returning for his second season as a starter. He is set to shoulder more of the offensive load with new running backs replacing Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price. Jordan Faison anchors the wide receiver room with the hope Jaden Greathouse and Ohio State transfer Mylan Graham will be significant contributors. Bryce Young<\/a>\u00a0is the leader of a defensive line that added transfers Francis Brewu<\/a> (Pittsburgh) and Keon Keeley<\/a> (Alabama) to bolster the front seven. But the biggest strength of the defense will a secondary with Leonard Moore<\/a>, Christian Gray and Colorado transfer DJ McKinney<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Source: New No. 1 leads college football too-early Top 25 after spring practice<\/a><\/p>\n ESPN (Mark Schlabach): No. 4<\/p>\n Teams ranked ahead: Ohio State, Oregon, Georgia<\/p>\n \u201cAfter being left out of the CFP, the Fighting Irish should be right back in the mix in 2026. There\u2019s no question the Irish will miss Love and Price, who combined to run for 2,046 yards with 29 touchdowns last season.\u00a0Aneyas Williams<\/a>, who averaged 9.3 yards per carry, is the heir apparent. Quarterback\u00a0CJ Carr\u00a0should be even better in his second season as a starter, especially if the Irish can get Graham and Porter going, and\u00a0Jaden Greathouse\u00a0returns from a hamstring injury. Nine of the defense\u2019s top 10 tacklers are back from 2025. Notre Dame figures to be heavily favored in all but two games \u2014 home against Miami and at BYU.\u201d<\/p>\n Source: 2026 college football Way-Too-Early Top 25: Spring update<\/a><\/p>\n Sporting News (Bill Bender): No. 5<\/p>\n Teams ranked ahead: Indiana, Ohio State, Georgia, Texas<\/p>\n Notre Dame is 34-7 the last three seasons, and this is arguably the most talented team yet under Marcus Freeman.\u00a0 CJ Carr \u2013 who had 2,751 passing yards, 24 TDs and six interceptions \u2013 is among the early Heisman favorites. Aneyas Williams and Kedren Young must replace the production left by first-round picks Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price. Jaden Greathouse and Jordan Faison get help from Ohio State transfers Quincy Porter and Mylan Graham at receiver. The offensive line is solid around tackle Anthonie Knapp<\/a>. All-American cornerback Leonard Moore and senior linebacker Drayk Bowen<\/a> lead a defense that also features linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa<\/a> and edge rusher Boubabar Traore<\/a>. Notre Dame opens with Wisconsin (Sept. 6) at Lambeau Field. Circle Nov. 7 when the Irish host Miami.\u201d<\/p>\n Source: College football rankings post-spring Top 25 for 2026: Indiana, Ohio State on top; USC on the rise<\/a><\/p>\n Note: Knapp moved to guard this spring.<\/p>\n \u201cI remain convinced that Notre Dame needs to be my No. 1 team to start the year. They\u2019ve got everything I want from a roster perspective. They\u2019ve got CJ Carr at quarterback. I don\u2019t care what Denbrock says about driving stuff in a ditch. He\u2019s not going to during the season. That\u2019s not gonna happen. Mike Denbrock<\/a> does not know his quarterback like I do. So he\u2019ll be fine. He\u2019ll be fine.<\/p>\n \u201cDefense will be fine. In fact, they\u2019ll be loaded. There\u2019s an urgency there, because of what happened last year. So I don\u2019t expect them to ease into the season. I actually expect them to annihilate people. You know they play Rice early. Fried Rice. And for all the talk about them losing a couple first-round running back, and there should be talk about that, I still expect that position to be very good for them.\u201d<\/p>\n