WATCH: Reacting to where Notre Dame stands in post-spring top 25s and more
In a weekly YouTube live show, Blue & Gold’s Tim Hyde and Mike Singer discuss and react to the latest news and notes in the world of Notre Dame football and recruiting.
It was a loaded show, as the guys discuss several post-spring top 25 lists in college football, including one that didn’t have Notre Dame at all. The guys break down Notre Dame defensive line recruiting, talk Irish quarterback commit Deuce Knight and more.
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Notre Dame lands at No. 5 in The Athletic’s post-spring top 25
When The Athletic senior college football writer Ari Wasserman put together his post-spring top-25 rankings Tuesday morning, he headlined it with “Does Notre Dame deserve to be in the top five?”
The answer, he felt, was yes.
Wasserman slotted Notre Dame at No. 5, behind Ohio State, Georgia, Oregon and Texas, respectively. Ole Miss, Alabama, Missouri, Michigan and Miami rounded out the top 10.
For Wasserman’s full top 25, click here.
What The Athletic senior college football writer Ari Wasserman said about Notre Dame
“Someone, please save me. I have Notre Dame in the top five! Your first reaction may be Notre Dame is a little high. It was mine, too. For a recruiting nerd, it really was hard to put the Irish in the top five when Marcus Freeman hasn’t reached his potential in talent accumulation.
“But when you take a deeper look at the Fighting Irish, you see a team that has everything in place to break through in 2024. Notre Dame hired OC Mike Denbrock back from LSU and added quarterback Riley Leonard through the portal. It addressed its receiver issues with Kris Mitchell and Beaux Collins. It should have one of the best defenses in the country with a ton of returning production. And its schedule sets up to where 10-2 would be a disappointment.”
Blue & Gold’s thoughts
Anything less than 10-2 would raise red flags in South Bend, and I lean toward agreeing with Wasserman that even 10-2 would be slightly underwhelming.
Notre Dame has a road test against Texas A&M in Week 1. It has a home rematch with a Louisville team that dominated the transfer portal in Week 5. And it hosts Florida State, who lost significant talent to the NFL Draft but remains dangerous, in Week 11. USC could challenge the Irish in Los Angeles… maybe. The Trojans lost Caleb Williams and did very little to fix the offensive line that doomed them in 2023.
Losing any other game on its schedule would be a disaster for Notre Dame. The 2024 slate is neither as daunting at the top nor as challenging in the middle as it was last season.
As for the Irish themselves, the remade wide receiver room certainly looks promising. Notre Dame needs to prove all the new weapons work together on the field to consider its issues addressed, though. And while the Leonard-Denbrock combination is exciting as well, the ex-Duke quarterback is also in prove-it territory after missing most of spring practice with his second ankle surgery.
Wasserman is dead-on about Notre Dame’s defense, which should keep the Irish in every game. Freeman needs his offense to click for the first time in his three-year tenure as head coach, but if it does, he could absolutely lead his team to a top-five finish.
