Earlier this morning ESPN released an article on how each of the Top 25 teams could individually win the National Title in the 2021 campaign (read here). As a projected top 10 team, the Irish have a very realistic chance at competing for a title this coming season. With the return of Ian Book at quarterback and a schedule that features enough quality games to get the into the College Football Playoff’s top 4 and have a shot at winning the Coaches Trophy.
Tom VanHaaren made it out to be very simple on how Notre Dame will be able to win the championship next year:
“Without a conference championship game, Notre Dame can’t afford any mistakes in 2020. Without a win against Clemson that late in the season, the chances at a national championship are slim.”
I believe that VanHaaren is spot on with his projection of how the Irish can be atop the college football world at the end of the year. The season very much hinges on how the Clemson game plays out in South Bend. He also mentions the Wisconsin game, the Badgers will be losing a lot of talent, most notably RB Jonathan Taylor and LB Zack Baun. VanHaaren also brings up the Stanford game, but they have been gutted with players transferring out of the program, a whopping 14 Cardinals have entered the transfer portal. One game that VanHaaren fails to mention is the finale against USC, which is always a dog fight, especially in the Coliseum.
This coming season should be a prosperous one for Brian Kelly and crew and if things go right, we could be seeing the Irish playing in the College Football Playoff once again.