Notre Dame football looked like a dominant team in its home opener against Rice on Saturday afternoon, and there was plenty of drama during Week 2.
Texas topped Ohio State on a last-minute touchdown with Oregon taking a loss to unranked Oklahoma State which made ESPN make changes in its projected College Football Playoff
12-team field. The Longhorns took the top spot from the Buckeyes, who dropped just one spot to No. 2.Miami is their No. 3 team, with the Irish taking the last spot for a first-round bye at No. 4. Digging a bit deeper into why Notre Dame was place there, Heather Dinich noted that the win on Saturday “was a complete performance …. It was a chance for the Irish to show some improvement from a first half against Wisconsin that raised
some questions.”
This is a pretty accurate assessment of what Notre Dame was able to accomplish against the Owls, as the dominance from start to finish was what many needed to see to validate the team. ESPN gives the Irish the best chance to finish the season undefeated, at 30.9% and naming the Hurricanes as the toughest remaining game, also giving some credit to a challenging contest against BYU.
It’s a fair placement for Notre Dame, with room to move up to a better seed. I don’t think anyone would be complaining if the Irish landed one of the top-4 seeds at the end of the season.
Vibes were high for our home opener ☘️#GoIrish☘️ | @icyhot pic.twitter.com/BFohjb80Qn
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) September 13, 2026
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This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: Where ESPN ranked Notre Dame in its CFP projection after Week 2
