Irish Breakdown

Is It National Championship or Bust for Notre Dame in 2026?

With the team in place to win it all, the Fighting Irish need to push their collective chips in for next season.
Mason Plummer|
Nov 29, 2025; Stanford, California, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Aneyas Williams (22) celebrates with Notre Dame Fighting Irish tight end Ty Washington (7) after scoring a touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Stanford Cardinal at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-Imagn Images
Nov 29, 2025; Stanford, California, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Aneyas Williams (22) celebrates with Notre Dame Fighting Irish tight end Ty Washington (7) after scoring a touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Stanford Cardinal at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-Imagn Images | Stan Szeto-Imagn Images

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Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Notre Dame finds itself in a unique position as we start to look forward to the 2026 football season.

The Fighting Irish are returning the majority of the starters from the 2025 season, including star quarterback CJ Carr, to pair with a defense that is sure to be in the top-five nationally.

With rumors constantly swirling about head coach Marcus Freeman potentially leaving Notre Dame in the near future and the talent that will be leaving after the 2026 season, the time is now for the Fighting Irish to win their 12th national championship.

Saying "the time is now" is a bit ironic and that isn't lost on me, considering Notre Dame has been vying for national title #12 for nearly 40 years now, but it does truly feel like things are lining up nicely for Notre Dame in 2026 in multiple facets.

On top of the returning talent and coaches, Notre Dame's 2026 schedule is looking very favorable for a run at the College Football Playoff. There are some challenges (Miami at home, BYU away) but other than those two, the Irish will be favored in every other game on the schedule by two scores, if not more.

Another key part of the schedule is that the first six games are easy ones, setting up the Irish to be rolling at likely 6-0 heading into Provo to take on BYU. I'd prefer they were tested in the first half of the season, but do you see real test coming from: Wisconsin, Rice, Michigan State, Purdue, North Carolina or Stanford?

I don't think so.

Even the real tests, Miami and BYU, are manageable and we should expect Notre Dame to be favored in those as well.

So, with Marcus Freeman coming back, both coordinators coming back, the Heisman favorite coming back leading your offense at quarterback and 70+% of your starters coming back on defense, this simply has to be the year that Notre Dame not only makes the College Football Playoff but goes on and wins the whole thing.

For a school like Notre Dame, it can be difficult for the stars to align in a way that makes you a true national title contender and the Fighting Irish have largely been that for Marcus Freeman's tenure in South Bend. It is time to get over the hump and now go win it though.

Everything is in place for Notre Dame to win the national championship in 2026.

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Mason Plummer
MASON PLUMMER

Covered Notre Dame football recruiting since 2017 for Irish Breakdown, Blue & Gold Illustrated and Notre Dame On SI. Covering Notre Dame professionally got me my start in journalism, which led me to getting my degrees in Journalism and Communications from Ball State University in 2021. Featured on Bleacher Report, NBC Sports, Rivals, On3 and more. Have missed multiple weddings and graduation parties for Notre Dame games.

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