In a world of conferences, the Irish have avoided joining one sans the 2021 COVID-19 season where they were forced to join forces with the ACC. Gone forever is the argument that if [autotag]Notre Dame[/autotag] was in a conference they wouldn’t do well, the Irish did win the regular season ACC title before falling to Clemson in the [autotag]ACC Championship Game[/autotag].
The Irish returned to be king of the Independents last year and although the annual goal of making the [autotag]College Football Playoff [/autotag] fell short, a New Years Six Fiesta Bowl was the consolation prize. As ESPN looked ahead to the 2022 season, their preview of the Irish (insider), along with the rest of the Independents, showed the strength of the first regular season for a [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] led team.
Although projected to win 8.9 games, Bill Connelly of ESPN is still high on the Irish. It hinges on the quarterback “but if either (Tyler) Buchner or (Drew) Pyne thrives behind center, the rest of the roster is loaded with experience.” Connelly believes that Freeman could “hit the ground running” but what does that mean?
Is another trip to the CFP in store or will the Irish be back in a big time bowl game that doesn’t have Playoff implications? Regardless, it seems that Connelly is high on what Notre Dame can do this coming fall.
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