Where Notre Dame ranks in way-too-early 2025 college football top 25 rankings

Notre Dame just finished the 2024 college football team as the national runner-up. Second-best team in the land. Where should the Fighting Irish rank entering the 2025 season?

Per eight reputable media outlets, firmly inside the top 10. According to five of them, including On3 Sports, safely inside the top five.

Here are where those eight publications put Notre Dame in the polls going into the 2025 season.

Stewart Mandel (The Athletic): Fighting Irish at No. 3

Mandel: The Irish shouldn’t fall far, wither either Steve Angeli or touted redshirt freshman CJ Carr taking over at quarterback for Riley Leonard. The defense loses a bunch of key veterans, but first- and second-year players such as Leonard Moore, Adon Shuler, defensive end Bryce Young and linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa are posed to take over. The schedule is not light; Notre Dame opens at Miami, hosts Texas A&M the following week and visits Arkansas before the end of September.

Click here for Mandel’s full top 25.

Mark Schlabach (ESPN): Notre Dame at No. 4

Schlabach: With two solid coordinators and vastly improved recruiting, the Fighting Irish seem to be only scratching the surface under dynamic head coach Marcus Freeman. The Irish recovered from a shocking early loss to Northern Illinois at home to reach the CFP National Championship game. They’ll miss Leonard’s leadership, but the coaching staff is excited about freshman CJ Carr, the grandson of former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, who was rated the No. 2 pocket passer in the 2024 recruiting class by ESPN. He battled an elbow injury on his throwing arm this past season. Backup Steve Angeli will compete with Carr for the job. There’s plenty of depth coming back on the offensive line, along with Love and tailback Jadarian Price. The Irish could use more game-changing receivers — they added Malachi Fields (Virginia) and Will Pauling (Wisconsin) from the portal. A few key players will have to be replaced on defense, and tackles Jared Dawson (Louisville) and Elijah Hughes (USC) and safeties DeVonta Smith (Alabama) and Jalen Stroman (Virginia Tech) should help fill some holes.

Click here for Schlabach’s full top 25.

Sports Illustrated: Fighting Irish at No. 4

Sports Illustrated: One of the most striking elements of the Fighting Irish playoff run was the impact of so many young players. With 14 starters from the national championship game expected to return, the program is very well-positioned for 2025 and beyond. The Irish were young on both lines by season’s end and should be better in the trenches on both sides of the ball, with several elite talents joining them in the offensive and defensive backfields. Notre Dame might have two capable quarterback options to replace Riley Leonard in veteran Steve Angeli and highly touted redshirt freshman CJ Carr. Despite playing into late January, Marcus Freeman and his staff still managed to pick up several transfers who could help right away.

Click here for Sports Illustrated’s full top 25.

Stan Becton (NCAA.com): Notre Dame at No. 4

Becton: Notre Dame should have a playoff-or-bust mindset entering 2025 after making the national title game in 2025. The offense has all the pieces for a replacement for Riley Leonard to step in smoothly, whether it be CJ Carr or Steve Angeli.

Running back Jeremiyah Love will enter the year as the top running back in the country and Jordan Faison and Jaden Greathouse emerged as weapons on the outside during Notre Dame’s playoff run. The offensive line will be experienced with Charles Jagusah, and Anthonie Knapp as possibly the top tackle tandem in the nation if healthy.

The Fighting Irish lose Howard Cross, Jack Kiser, Xavier Watts and RJ Oben, but Notre Dame made the national championship game with a secondary full of underclassmen in 2024. 

With games against Miami and Texas, Notre Dame will be tested early, but Marcus Freeman should have his squad ready.

Click here for Becton’s full top 25.

Andy Staples and Ari Wasserman (On3): Fighting Irish at No. 5

Staples: The Fighting Irish offensive line is going to be excellent, and that’s a great place to start. Anthony Knapp replaced injured Charles Jagusah at left tackle in 2024, and both should come into the 2025 season healthy. All of Notre Dame’s 2024 starters have eligibility remaining, and star 2024 recruit Guerby Lambert is waiting in the wings along with 2025 signee Will Black, who is On3’s No. 2 overall player in the class of 2025. Some stars depart on defense, but young players like cornerback Leonard Moore already look capable of becoming the next stars.

Click here for On3’s full top 25.

Joel Klatt (FOX Sports): Notre Dame at No. 6

Klatt: I love what Marcus Freeman is building in South Bend. That team was overmatched in the title game, but it continued to battle and made Ohio State sweat a little at the end. That’s a testament to the culture at Notre Dame.

On top of that strong culture is an elite roster. I would be shocked if Notre Dame isn’t back in the CFP next season. That’s the level of coach Freeman is now. It’d be great if he stays at Notre Dame because I think he could win a national title there soon. The NFL is going to come knocking really soon, though. Also, Ohio State looms as a possibility for Freeman if Ryan Day were to ever leave. The former Buckeye would be the first call athletic director Ross Bjork would make.

Quarterback Riley Leonard is leaving, with either Steve Angeli or CJ Carr likely replacing him. Carr was a top 50 recruit in the 2024 class, so there’s upside there. I think Notre Dame will have the best offensive line entering next season, while returning running backs Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price.

The defense will lose some key pieces, but what Notre Dame is building from a culture and depth standpoint showed it could lose guys to injury this past season and have a strong year. So, I have confidence in Freeman steering Notre Dame to another strong year.

Click here for Klatt’s full top 10.

Dennis Dodd (CBS Sports): Fighting Irish at No. 6

Dodd: Marcus Freeman is obviously just getting started. After the best Irish season since 1988, Notre Dame should keep pounding. The offensive line will be big and angry. Running back Jeremiyah Love returns. I personally can’t wait to see the development of slot receiver Jordan Faison, who was a revelation in the postseason and reminds me of Clemson’s Hunter Renfrow. The season-opener at Miami will be a blast. 

Click here for Dodd’s full top 25.

Nick Bromberg (Yahoo Sports): Notre Dame at No. 6

Bromberg: After back-to-back seasons of getting a starting QB out of the transfer portal, Notre Dame looks set to roll into 2025 with Steve Angeli as the starter after he spent 2024 as Riley Leonard’s No. 2. RB Jeremiyah Love will be back too after being one of the most explosive runners in the country. The defense has a lot of experience to replace, but players like Adon Shuler, Leonard Moore and Christian Gray should be back in the secondary.

Click here for Bromberg’s full top 25.