RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesSOUTH BEND — Notre Dame football, featuring one of the nation’s most experienced returning rosters, opens the preseason in the top five of the US LBM Coaches poll.
Coach Marcus Freeman enters his fifth full season at the helm with the Irish ranked fifth ahead of their season opener on Sept. 6 against unranked Wisconsin at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.
One of six teams receiving first-place votes in polling announced Tuesday, Aug. 4, Notre Dame is ranked one spot ahead of defending national champion Indiana.
Ohio State, Oregon, Georgia and Texas occupy the top four spots in the coaches’ poll.
“The majority of the program understands the work that must be put in to put yourself in a position not to stumble,” Freeman said on July 21. “And I think that's what gives me confidence is that we have enough leadership, enough competitors, enough people that believe and buy in to what it's going to take for us to be successful and not stumble.”
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Three teams on Notre Dame’s 2026 regular-season schedule made the Top 25: No. 7 Miami, No. 15 BYU and No. 20 SMU.
Miami visits Notre Dame Stadium on Nov. 7 with SMU to follow two weeks later. The Oct. 17 trip to face BYU in Provo, Utah marks the first true test on Notre Dame’s lightly regarded schedule.
Notre Dame went 10-2 a year ago but was left out of the 12-team College Football Playoff despite reeling off 10 straight wins after dropping back-to-back games against Miami and Texas A&M.
Jeremiyah Love finished third in last year’s Heisman Trophy voting and was selected third overall in April’s NFL Draft, but the Irish have another preseason Heisman candidate in second-year starting quarterback CJ Carr.
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: See where Notre Dame football opened in 2026 US LBM Coaches Poll
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