Notre Dame football schedule 2025: Analyzing the Fighting Irish’s path back to College Football Playoff

Notre Dame is fresh off an impressive run to the College Football Playoff National Championship, taking full advantage of the first year of the 12-team format while marching to Atlanta as the No. 7 seed. As the calendar turns to the offseason, all of the focus now is centered entirely on whether the Fighting Irish will run it back in 2025. 

With how coach Marcus Freeman has recruited and developed talent — Notre Dame has improved its win total in each of their three years under his guidance — the Irish certainly project as one of the top teams in college football next season. CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd ranked Notre Dame No. 6 in his way-too-early Top 25. 

Now we know the path that Notre Dame will have to take back to the postseason as the Fighting Irish recently their entire 2025 slate of games this past week. Given that Notre Dame is an independent, the regular season is its only chance to build a résumé for the selection committee to consider. 

Notre Dame 2025 football schedule: 

Notre Dame stacked its 2025 schedule with marquee games against power conference opponents and some recent contenders from the Group of Five level. The Fighting Irish have to face off against two SEC teams, two Big Ten teams and six ACC teams in 2025. 

Their schedule seems especially front-loaded. They open the year on the road against a potential preseason top-10 team in Miami. That contest will give an early indication of either team’s standing, though, as Notre Dame demonstrated with its loss to Northern Illinois in 2024 that early season results aren’t the be all, end all for a season. 

Notre Dame will have plenty of chances to stack strong wins after that Miami game, and in short order. The Irish host a possible top-15 team in Texas A&M on Sept. 15…


Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/notre-dame-football-schedule-2025-analyzing-the-fighting-irishs-path-back-to-college-football-playoff/

Author : Will Backus

Publish date : 2025-02-02 15:30:00

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