Notre Dame getting national title respect from key college football voice

Believe it or not, we’re almost a week away from the start of the 2026 college football season.

The first games will take place in Week 0 on Aug. 29 before Week 1 gets going the following week.

There’s a lot of hype about several teams going into the season, including Notre Dame. Notre Dame has star quarterback CJ Carr returning for another season, and he’s currently one of the favorites to win the Heisman Trophy. They’re also ranked No. 4 in the preseason AP Top 25 poll.

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College GameDay host Rece Davis is super bullish on the Fighting Irish for this year and is picking them to win the national title.

“Notre Dame is my preseason No. 1 team, and they’re the team that I believe will win the national championship,” Davis said on the “Pat McAfee Show.” “To answer your question, yes, the schedule is helpful to them early. They’ve got Miami, they’ve got SMU, I believe later on in the season, who will be very good, but I think the Irish are loaded. I really believe in CJ Carr, and I think this is the year Notre Dame breaks through for the first time since our late great friend Lou Holtz led them to the title in 1988.”

The Irish will open the 2026 season at home against the Wisconsin Badgers on Sept. 6 and won’t play the Miami Hurricanes until Nov. 7. They also won’t play the SMU Mustangs until Nov. 21.

There will be plenty of opportunities for the Irish to get off to a fast start this year.

Kickoff for that contest between the Irish and the Badgers will be at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC.