There have been years along the way I thought maybe Notre Dame could have a chance if like 5 different things went their way, but in all of those years, deep down I knew it wasn't very likely. For instance, the end years of the BK era there were years I thought we had a shot but knew things like lacking a elite QB, speed at wide receiver, or any depth on defense would hold the team back. Even last year I thought it might have been possible, but the early season schedule worried me with Carr as a redshirt freshman.

This year though? It's probably first time since 2006 I am entering a season thinking Notre Dame, not only can win a title, but just might really do it. All of things thta held back the very good Notre Dame teams from being really elite in the past aren't there this year.

- QB? Carr is elite and just might mess around and win the Heisman
- WR? Would love for the room to be a bit more healthy, Porter specifically, but between Faison, Greathouse, Gilbert, and Graham and then the young guys like Burress, Bettis, and Fraizer; this room is loaded compared to past years. In almost any other year before Freeman, one or two of those young players who aren't quite ready yet would be starting.
- DL? If you built a DL out of the best players of the last 5 years of the BK era and compared it to the 2026 DL, it would be close.
- LB? We might have the best LB in the country
- DB? We might have the best secondary in the country and have two guys who could legit win a Thorpe Award.
- Depth? Backups on this team would start for a majority of the BK era teams.
- Coaching? Freeman seems to have gotten over a lot of his first time head coach issues and the staff from top to bottom is loaded.

A lot still has to go right for Notre Dame to win it, but there won't be a single team in the country that Notre Dame faces this year where we will enter a game thinking, "how the hell are we going to compete with them at X, Y, or Z position"

Season can't get here soon enough