Notre Dame Ranked 14th In ESPN Way-Too-Early Top 25 For The 2023 Season

The way-too-early stories are already coming out and Notre Dame is outside of the Top 10 in the breakdowns released so far. ESPN has the Fighting Irish ranked 14th in their first installment of their Way-Too-Early Top 25 for the 2023 season.

Here's what the "world wide leader" had to say:

"Things could have gotten ugly for Notre Dame in Marcus Freeman's first season as coach, especially after an 0-2 start that included a home loss to Marshall. A 16-14 defeat against Stanford at home wasn't much better. But Freeman and his staff got things back on track by winning six of seven games, including a 45-38 victory against South Carolina in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl. Former starting quarterback (Drew) Pyne transferred to Arizona State, but the Irish landed former Wake Forest starter (Sam) Hartman, who has thrown for nearly 13,000 yards with 110 touchdowns during five seasons with Wake Forest. He'll compete with Tyler Buchner, who had five touchdowns against the Gamecocks. The top three tailbacks and three starting offensive linemen are expected to return, although (Michael) Mayer won't easily be replaced. Top pass rushers (Isaiah) Foskey and Jayson Ademilola are moving on as well." - Mark Schlabach, ESPN

The manner in which the quarterback position was discussed was interesting, noting that Pyne was the "former starter" and acting as if Hartman must fill those shoes. Other than that the only other issues was Schlabach listing Marist Liufau as a departure (he's not) and Drayk Bowen as a cornerback (he's a linebacker).

ESPN also had three Notre Dame opponents ranked in the early Top 25. Ohio State tops the list at No. 2 in the country, which is a high ranking for the Buckeyes after losing quarterback CJ Stroud. USC checked in at No. 7 in the ESPN list and Clemson came in at No. 15, one spot behind Notre Dame.

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Notre Dame 2024 Scholarship Offers

2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Offense
2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Defense

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