Notre Dame Football: Season Predictions from ND on SI Staff

Notre Dame football should be really good in 2024, but just how good nationally is that? Our Notre Dame on Sports Illustrated team tells you exactly that

Sep 10, 2022; South Bend, Indiana, USA; The Notre Dame Fighting run out of the tunnel before the game against the Marshall Thundering Herd at Notre Dame Stadium. / Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

Expectations are high for Notre Dame football in 2024.

Real high.

Forget what any national pundits say for a second and take what much of the coaching staff and team said in the debut episode of Here Come the Irish, the new Hard Knocks type show focusing on Notre Dame football, on Peacock.

Notre Dame thinks it can win a national championship in college football this season.

Not down the road, right stinking now.

The staff here at Notre Dame on Sports Illustrated is all around pretty high on Notre Dame but nobody has the Fighting Irish pegged to end the national championship drought that has gone on in South Bend since 1988.

So how do we see the season playing out?

Here are predictions and forecasts on exactly that in roughly 125 words or less.

Pete Fiutak

@PeteFiutak

As my third grade teacher said - always go with your first answer.

It’s a bookend season for the Irish. They lose the opener to Texas A&M, everyone panics, Notre Dame fire alarms go off screaming for Marcus Freeman to be fired, and then come the wins.

Notre Dame rips off ten straight victories to all but lock up an expanded College Football Playoff spot, and then it loses the regular season finale to a desperate USC team in a must-win situation for Lincoln Riley and the program. 

The Irish get into the CFP, win a first round home game, and then lose to either Georgia or Ohio State in the second round 249 to 3.

Jeff Feyerer

@JF_Fey

Notre Dame offensive line coach Joe Rudolph, second from right, talks to offensive lineman Aamil Wagner (59) during a Notre Dame football practice at Irish Athletic Center on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in South Bend. / MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK

The story of the entire season will be the offensive line. They will roll into Kyle Field on with high expectations and the most inexperienced line in recent memory. How that group comes together and improves throughout 12 games will ultimately determine whether they participate in the CFP.

I’m looking forward to the marriage of Riley Leonard and Mike Denbrock as I’m going to go out on a limb and say it will be more fruitful than Sam Hartman and Gerad Parker. Despite the departure of Audric Estime, I think the offensive weapons are better.

Defensively, the Irish will have their best unit since 2012. Oben, Cross, Mills, Botelho, Kiser, Morrison and Watts all have the potential to garner postseason honors while Sneed, Bowen, Gray and Moore all take steps forward in their development.

If the Irish can recover from what I fear may be a long night in College Station, I see them running the table, finishing 11-1 and ultimately getting to the semifinals of the playoff where they will be sent home by the Georgia Bulldogs.

Nathan Erbach

@Nathan_Erbach

11-1.

It's tough for me, outside of potentially Week 1, to find a loss on the Notre Dame schedule. With that said, I hate predicting an undefeated season, even if I end up predicting them to win every game on a weekly basis.

11-1 will get them into the playoff as a 6-10 seed and potentially hosting a mid-December game at Notre Dame Stadium. I'll be the optimist and say they win their first ever CFB playoff game, and it will come against a talented Power 4 opponent.

Unfortunately, they will come up just short in the quarterfinals.

Mason Plummer

@MasonPlummer_

Notre Dame Head Coach Marcus Freeman watches pre-game warmups Saturday, April 20, 2024, at the annual Notre Dame Blue-Gold spring football game at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend. / MANDATORY CREDIT GREG SWIERCZ / USA TODAY NETWORK

11-1.

It was super tempting to go for it all with 12-0, which this team is fully capable of, I just lean towards 11-1 and see the Irish tripping up at some point along the way. I will say, it is much more likely that if Notre Dame escapes College Station with a win, it goes 12-0.

That kind of momentum can’t be replicated and this team has enough veteran leadership to do it. That being said, I am picking the Irish to beat Texas A&M, but there are some sneaky difficult games along the way that could prove difficult. Freeman needs to win games he should win consistently and we just haven’t seen that...yet.

With Freeman at the helm, Notre Dame feels more likely to win big games like Texas A&M than under Kelly, but Kelly was a master of winning the games he should win. It comes with experience and Freeman is getting there. With all of that being said, I will stick with 11-1 and the Irish locking in a playoff spot, with the potential to be hosting a playoff game at Notre Dame Stadium.

This squad ultimately makes noise in the College Football Playoff before falling in the national semi-final.

John Kennedy

@AlwaysIrishINC

Notre Dame has big aspirations for 2024. The roster is deep in many areas, the staff is skilled and experienced and the schedule is lighter than most years and more favorably spaced out as well.

I have Notre Dame going 11-1 in the regular season. The Irish defense will lead the way all year while the offense finds its footing as the season  moves along.

11-1 will earn the Irish a home playoff game in late December that they will win over the G5 playoff team. Notre Dame will also win their second round match-up before falling in the semi-finals to a talented SEC or top-tier B10 team.

This performance will be enough to warrant an extension for Freeman and stabilize & re-energize the recruiting operation.

Nick Shepkowski

@NickShepkowski

Dec 29, 2023; El Paso, TX, USA; Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love (12) celebrates after running the ball in for a touchdown against the Oregon State Beavers in the second half at Sun Bowl Stadium. Mandatory Credit: / Ivan Pierre Aguirre-USA TODAY Sports

Screw it. Nobody else has the guts to say it so I will.

Notre Dame wins the national championship!

Alright, that's wishful thinking but this team is built to compete with almost all of the biggest and badest in college football. The offensive line scares me, especially at Texas A&M, but the schedule sets up so favorably after that 11-1 should be the minimal expectation this regular season - especially when you factor in having one of the nation's top-five defenses.

That's good enough to host a home game after earning either the No. 5 or No. 6 seed in the CFP.

Win.

Then comes a neutral site date with either the ACC or Big 12 champ.

Win.

A semi-final date with one of more talented Georgia, Ohio State, or Oregon does Notre Dame in but aside from those three, this is a team that can and should compete with any other in the country.

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