Games that will define each top college football team's 2025 season
4. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Season-defining game: Sept. 13 vs. Texas A&M
A not-so bold prediction: Notre Dame will have a much tougher time surviving an early-season loss in 2025. Why? The Irish's schedule is front-loaded with several tough opponents, and Notre Dame could fall out of the playoff race before things soften up during the second half. Notre Dame will have a good idea of its CFP position after its first two games, at Miami and the home opener against Texas A&M. I try to resist putting so much on a Week 1 game, so I'm going with the Texas A&M contest Sept. 13, which follows an open week. Notre Dame will have a sense of how its new quarterback performs at Miami, and how the defense is faring under new coordinator Chris Ash. The Irish will either enter the Texas A&M game in desperation mode or with a chance to establish the nation's best two-week profile and validate themselves as CFP title contenders again. -- Adam Rittenberg
Season-defining game: Sept. 13 vs. Texas A&M
A not-so bold prediction: Notre Dame will have a much tougher time surviving an early-season loss in 2025. Why? The Irish's schedule is front-loaded with several tough opponents, and Notre Dame could fall out of the playoff race before things soften up during the second half. Notre Dame will have a good idea of its CFP position after its first two games, at Miami and the home opener against Texas A&M. I try to resist putting so much on a Week 1 game, so I'm going with the Texas A&M contest Sept. 13, which follows an open week. Notre Dame will have a sense of how its new quarterback performs at Miami, and how the defense is faring under new coordinator Chris Ash. The Irish will either enter the Texas A&M game in desperation mode or with a chance to establish the nation's best two-week profile and validate themselves as CFP title contenders again. -- Adam Rittenberg
Link: Games that will define each top college football team's 2025 season