Notre Dame football will enter the 2026 season as the No. 5 overall team according to the US LBM Coaches Poll, a great spot to begin with eyes on a College Football Playoff run.
Many believe that will be the case, but USA TODAY’s Paul Myerberg thinks it won’t be an easy road to get there for the Irish. When asked which top-5 team he believes will be most likely to miss the playoff he said “it’s got to be Notre Dame… the schedule that they play increases the important of who you lose to and who you beat.”
Myerberg references what happened to the Irish last year, with the losses to Miami and Texas A&M as how the came to his conclusion. While we all might be unhappy to hear that, there is precedence for the committee passing over Notre Dame for others
in the 12-team field.
He goes on to say the Irish’s “wiggle room is much, much lower than what you’ll see at Texas, at Oregon, at Georgia, at Ohio State. I think all four of those teams are looking much better, much safer than the Irish. And I love Notre Dame, I might have even put them No. 1 in my poll, I think they might be the best team in the country, but we need to face the reality that Notre Dame has the smallest room for error in this top-5.”
It very much seems like he’s a believer in who Notre Dame is this fall, but Myerberg is looking at the big picture with this question as they are the only team inside this range that isn’t affiliated with a conference. While some of those teams aren’t very good, the Big Ten and SEC will get a bump for playing in their conferences, something that the Irish won’t get.
Hopefully he’s wrong and Notre Dame takes care of business and makes the CFP field.
Paul Myerberg explains why Notre Dame faces the toughest path and smallest margin for error in the College Football Playoff race. https://t.co/FuUlvQIXPh
— USA TODAY Sports (@usatodaysports) August 4, 2026
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This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: One expert believes Notre Dame has the toughest path to make the CFP
