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Notre Dame

Fighting Irish · FBS Independents

Head coach Marcus Freeman Year 4 with Notre Dame

Year-4 HCs (2015-2024) averaged -0.65 W vs SP+ expected · n=59

Season Projection · 2026 W0

10,000 sims
10.1
Expected wins
10-2
Proj record
8 to 12
Win range (90%)
#7 (2–14)
Final rank (90%)
93%
Make playoff
86%
Win conference

Path to Glory

Tap a win or a loss on each pivotal game to see how the playoff probability shifts. Leave any game unset to average across both outcomes.

Make the playoff

93%

Baseline projection.

  • vs Miami
    Home · Nov 8
  • at BYU
    Away · Oct 17

Pivotal games are the 5 with the largest playoff-probability swing, ranked by the model. Math: chained Bayesian log-odds update from the conditional simulation set; gets the directionally right answer but won't perfectly capture cross-game correlations until the full Monte Carlo pipeline lands.

Returning production · 2025

66 PCI
  • Quarterback 60% (3/5 players)
  • Offensive line 74% (14/19 players)
  • Skill (RB/WR/TE) 69% (24/35 players)
  • Front 7 (DL/LB) 75% (24/32 players)
  • Secondary 60% (12/20 players)
  • Special teams 40% (4/10 players)

PCI weights returning production by position group (QB/OL heaviest). 70%+ is healthy continuity; 45-70% is a normal rebuild; below 45% is a meaningful turnover.

Situational efficiency · 2025

FBS percentile rank
  • 3rd-down conversion 44.9% 93th — elite
  • Red-zone TD rate 17.0% 72th — strong
  • 4th-down aggression 52.5% 95th — elite
  • Late & close 8.0 yds/play 95th — elite

Percentile is across all FBS teams with play-by-play data for the season. "Late & close" is yards per play in Q4+ with a one-score margin — a proxy for clutch offensive performance.

Schedule

Full 2026 slate. Tap a row for the matchup breakdown.

Latest Stories

  • Recap

    Notre Dame: 2025 Week 16 recap

    Notre Dame sits at No. 5 in GIE's rankings with a 10–2 record and a 24.4 rating heading into Week 16. The Irish dominated Stanford 49–20 in their most recent outing, a statement of offensive efficiency that underscored their credentials…

More coming

Per-team pages get the full treatment in Phase 3: current rating, season projection histogram, schedule with win probabilities, and live overlays on Pylon stream days. For now, this page exists so stories and news have a permanent home as content rolls in.