There is no questioning the talent that Marcus Freeman has been able to bring to Notre Dame. If you’ve been watching closely you’ve seen not just much of the skill level atop the Notre Dame depth chart appear better in many places recently, but the amount of depth is beyond significant.
Just how much have those from afar noticed the same thing about Notre Dame under Freeman?
ESPN released their latest “Way Too Early Top 25” on Monday as they recapped spring football across the college landscape.
Just how high is ESPN on the Fighting Irish in 2024?
Despite ticking Notre Dame fans off plenty in recent years, it’s clear that the Worldwide Leader in Sports is high on Freeman and the Fighting Irish in 2024. Below are their latest top 25 teams which feature plenty of Notre Dame opponents for the season ahead, too.
Biggest Offseason Storyline: Mike Elko leaves Duke for Texas A&M. Can the Aggies finally play to their expectation with Jimbo Fisher gone? Much talent remains but the losses to the transfer portal were significant for even Elko to endure.
Biggest Offseason Storyline: Few teams made as much of an impact in the transfer portal as Miami appears to roughly four months before opening weekend. Can Mario Cristobal get that talent to reach rising expectations for what has been an underachieving program in his first two seasons?
Biggest Offseason Storyline: Basketball school no more? We’re only kidding.
Sorta.
Mark Stoops was rumored to be leaving Lexington to take over at Texas A&M before it went to Elko. Did Stoops really choose to stay at Kentucky while John Calipari really chose to leave for Arkansas? Quite a few months in the Bluegrass State.
Biggest Offseason Storyline: Jalon Daniels has somewhat quietly been one of the nation’s best quarterbacks the last two years when he’s been able to stay on the field. Could a healthy Daniels have Kansas seriously threaten to crash the College Football Playoff party in its first year with 12 teams?
Biggest Offseason Storyline: In what appears to be an improving ACC, Louisville took the biggest step of any last season. Heck, had they had any offense against Florida State they could have won the conference last year with the way things worked out. Do they continue that climb or level off in year-two under Jeff Brohm?
Biggest Offseason Storyline: The Kansas State offense lost quarterback Will Howard to Ohio State in the portal but should manage to be improved. Avery Johnson takes over as the full-time starter while the Wildcats running game headed by DJ Giddens should be one of the best in the country.
Biggest Offseason Storyline: Clemson isn’t used to having just elite quarterback play under Dabo Swinney but also in having some of the nation’s best wide receivers. They didn’t have either last season and the Tigers faithful expect to see both units improve significantly in 2024.
Biggest Offseason Storyline: How big of an impact will NC State’s transfer portal additions on offense make? Grayson McCall takes over at quarterback from Coastal Carolina while wide receiver Noah Rogers made the jump from Ohio State, and tight end Justin Joly made the move from UConn.
Biggest Offseason Storyline: In the entirely new-look Big 12, is it finally the Pokes turn to take over the conference and end the season with a College Football Playoff appearance? It may be the best chance Mike Gundy has had in his decade-and-a-half in Stillwater.
Biggest Offseason Storyline: Can Nico Iamaleava return Tennessee to the offensive heights they had just two years ago with Hendon Hooker calling signals? If he can then an improving Volunteers defense headed by dominant edge rusher James Pearce will make some bigtime noise in the expanded SEC.
Biggest Offseason Storyline: Florida State loses not just quarterback Jordan Travis but a plethora of talent to the NFL draft. Just how much can Mike Norvell and the Seminoles get out of veteran quarterback DJ Uiagaleilei?
Biggest Offseason Storyline: What’s left on the offense for Oklahoma in 2024? Veteran quarterback Dillion Gabriel was one of the biggest departures nationally in the transfer portal as he heads to Oregon, but essentially an entire offensive line needs to be remade while play caller Jeff Lebby is now the head coach at Mississippi State. Good luck in your debut SEC season, Sooners.
Biggest Offseason Storyline: This is about as obvious as it gets but how does Michigan not just replace the talent of 13 stars who heard their names called in the 2024 NFL draft but how does the transition from beloved assistant coach to head coach go for first-year man Sherrone Moore who replaces Jim Harbaugh?
Biggest Offseason Storyline: It’s not just replacing Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels for LSU, but it’s about improving a defense that was downright awful in 2023. [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] gutted his defensive coaching staff in Baton Rouge this off-season. Will Kelly, who traditionally has done a stellar job hiring (most) assistants, get things turned around? If so the LSU talent should do some major damage in the SEC.
Biggest Offseason Storyline: One of the biggest feel-good stories in 2023 was Arizona’s return to relevance as the Wildcats won 10 games for the first time since 2014. Brent Brennan takes over for the departed Jedd Fisch as head coach, but quarterback Noah Fifita should be downright scary in his sophomore campaign.
Biggest Offseason Storyline: Cam Rising is back at quarterback and should be in a much better place health-wise than last season. Will the addition of Dorian Singer from USC via the transfer portal pay major dividends for the Utes offense?
Biggest Offseason Storyline: How do you replace a legend? Kalen DeBoer finds out the answer to that question at Alabama as the former Washington head coach takes over for the retired Nick Saban. Jalen Milroe is one of the best returning starting quarterbacks in the country but what else remains of the offense finds their third offensive play caller in the last three seasons.
Biggest Offseason Storyline: With Michigan losing so much to the NFL is this finally the year Penn State takes a step to being a top-two team in the Big Ten? Or will Oregon come on in and fly right past them, too? Much of the answer to that question lies in how much James Franklin will trust quarterback Drew Allar to actually push the ball downfield for a change in 2024.
Biggest Offseason Storyline: One of the biggest surprise stories in 2023 walks into 2024 with significantly raised expectations. How do the Tigers replace running back Cody Schrader who went from transfer afterthought to top-10 in the Heisman Trophy voting last season? The offensive line who gains a big body in Oklahoma transfer Cayden Green will have much to say about that.
Biggest Offseason Storyline: Like we talked about with Kansas State earlier, Ole Miss loses one of the nation’s best offensive players to Ohio State (running back Quinshon Judkins) but should be improved offensively, and that’s on a team that averaged over 35 points per game last year and won the Peach Bowl. Jaxson Dart should be among the nation’s very top quarterbacks for Lane Kiffin this season.
Biggest Offseason Storyline: Notre Dame’s added overall talent and depth is something we’ve discussed at length at Fighting Irish Wire but the addition of [autotag]Mike Denbrock[/autotag] as offensive coordinator can’t be overlooked. Notre Dame has to replace both offensive tackles but should see a significant improvement in the offense overall regardless of the health of transfer quarterback Riley Leonard.
Biggest Offseason Storyline: In the transfer portal era Texas was able to not just get Quinn Ewers to stick around and quarterback another season, but also kept mega-recruit from a year ago Arch Manning from transferring. Steve Sarkisian took his lumps as a head coach but has the Longhorns back looking like a perennial power.
Biggest Offseason Storyline: Oregon moves to the Big Ten in 2024 and enters thinking they should compete for not just a conference title but a national crown. Led by veteran quarterback Dillion Gabriel, the Ducks offense should immediately be one of the best in nation. Oh, and don’t tell Big Ten traditionalists but Pacific Northwest Oregon will enter their new conference as one of the most physical teams in the league.
Biggest Offseason Storyline: The excuses are over for Ohio State head coach Ryan Day as the university went all-in on loading up the Buckeyes for 2024. Ohio State brought in major additions from the transfer portal, headed by quarterback Will Howard (Kansas State) and running back Quinshon Judkins (Ole Miss). It could be freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith that steals the offensive show for the Buckeyes in 2024 though.
Oh, and let’s not forget that Ohio State added Chip Kelly to call their offense for 2024. There is no coach under more pressure to deliver in the biggest of ways this fall than Day.
Biggest Offseason Storyline: Dear Lord, Georgia lost a game last season on the first weekend of December and the world nearly ended in the Peach State. Now, that game was in the SEC Championship to Alabama, but with the state of the Georgia program, any loss comes as a major disappointment. Nobody has recruited better in recent years than Kirby Smart. Smart gets quarterback Carson Beck back for another year and added a plethora of transfers to help replace the departed NFL talent. It’s again championship or bust for the Bulldogs.