Paul Finebaum Names Top-10 College Football Team That's Underrated

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have long been one of the powers in college football. However, the team has not won a national championship in nearly 40 years.

Notre Dame Close to Ending Near Four-Decade Drought

The Fighting Irish have had some close calls. They played in the BCS National Championship in 2012 and have made the College Football Playoff three times. The most recent time was in 2024, when Notre Dame went all the way to the national championship game before falling 34-23 to the Ohio State Buckeyes.

The Fighting Irish then started the 2025 season with high expectations, but after a 0-2 start, Marcus Freeman's team was on the ropes. Notre Dame responded by winning 10 straight games, but that wasn't enough to return to the College Football Playoff.

The Fighting Irish start this season ranked No. 4 in the AP poll. They are behind the Ohio State Buckeyes, Oregon Ducks and the Georgia Bulldogs. A big reason for their high ranking is what they return from last season. Notre Dame ranks No. 1 in returning production at 72%.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman waits in the tunnel. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Paul Finebaum Makes Bold Notre Dame Playoff Prediction for 2026

Due to that, ESPN's Paul Finebaum revealed on "The Paul Finebaum Show," that he feels the Fighting Irish should be ranked higher.

"They probably should be ranked higher," Finebaum said. "Because they have an easy schedule and they have a loaded team starting at the quarterback position... I think Notre Dame would probably be my second pick to win the national championship. And a lot of it is based on the fact that they have one very difficult road game and one incredibly difficult home game. And other than that, it's a cakewalk."

Notre Dame's Schedule Has Finebaum Feeling Confident

As Finebaum pointed out, his confidence in Notre Dame largely comes down to the schedule. The Fighting Irish don't have the same week-to-week gauntlet faced by many of the top teams in the Power Four, giving them a clearer path to another double-digit win season.

The two games he highlighted could ultimately determine how much pressure Notre Dame faces in the playoff race. A road trip to BYU and a home game with Miami give the Fighting Irish opportunities to add marquee wins, but they also represent potential stumbling blocks.

That puts even more pressure on Notre Dame to avoid the kind of early-season setback that derailed the 2025 campaign. A team with this much talent can't afford to dig another hole and expect to climb completely out of it.

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