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Where Notre Dame’s 2025 class ranks per major media outlets

Singer headshotby:Mike Singer•about 11 hours•

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Marcus Freeman
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman. (© Stephen Lew-Imagn Images)

Notre Dame signed a 25-man class in the 2025 cycle with a blue-chip ratio of 56 percent. It had an overall class score (more on that in a bit) of 91.47, which was slightly down from the 2024 cycle, which was at 91.95.

Considering Blue & Gold is a website in the On3 network, we reference the On3 Industry Ranking football Team Recruiting Rankings as our primary source. But how do all of the major media rankings outlets view Marcus Freeman‘s third full class at Notre Dame?

  • On3 Industry: No. 12
  • On3: No. 12
  • ESPN: No. 15
  • 247 Sports: No. 12
  • Rivals: No. 11
  • Tom Lemming: No. 12

There was not an outlet that listed the class in the top 10, which is disappointing, but naturally, Notre Dame sources would disagree with that. Per the On3 Industry Ranking, the Irish’s group in 2024 ranked No. 11 and the 2023 class was No. 10. So, according to the rankings data point, there’s been a small step back from a national perspective.

The headliner of Notre Dame’s 2025 class is Wallingford (Conn.) Choate Rosemary Hall’s Will Black, five-star prospect who ranks as the nation’s No. 17 overall recruit and No. 4 offensive tackle according to the On3 Industry Ranking. On3’s own rankings have Black as the No. 4 prospect and No. 1 offensive tackle in the land.

Notre Dame has one five-star commit, 13 four-star verbals and 11 three-stars signed in its 2025 class. Twelve percent of the Irish’s signees hail from the Hoosier State.

Understanding the On3 Industry team rankings system

The On3 Industry Team Recruiting Ranking utilizes all four major recruiting media companies: On3, 247Sports, Rivals and ESPN.

Instead of a total points system like at Rivals, the On3 Industry Team Ranking uses a score average of the player rankings, which solves the problem of varying class sizes during the recruiting cycle. It compiles the highest-rated commits for each team up to a total based on a rolling average of current total commitments among Power Five schools.

The current average number of commits in the 2025 class used in the rankings score is 20. This means that of Notre Dame’s 25 signees, only the 18 highest-ranked players are used for the rankings score.

To further explain that point: Notre Dame’s 25 signees have an average recruit rating of 90.41, but that is not the score used in the team ranking. Only Notre Dame’s top 20 commits are being used in the Industry Team Ranking, and the Irish’s score with that group is 91.474 — this is the number used for the class ranking, as seen here.

With this model, there are no bonus points for having more commitments than other teams, and only small deductions occur when a team has fewer commitments than the rolling average. Unlike distribution (bell) curves, this model doesn’t disproportionately weight a team’s top three or four highest-rated commits and is a more accurate representation of an entire class.

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