Notre Dame football: 5 bold predictions for 2020

1. Notre Dame will finish outside top 25

This one has a lot to do with the inexperience across major position groups. Ian Book is looking to have a big year, but he’s working with young receivers and a new running back. Book has some skills, but it’s hard to see him carrying this team to new heights by himself. There’s the aforementioned cornerback group that’s going to see a major drop in passing defense efficiency. This is a recipe for disaster.

The Fighting Irish are going to lose to Clemson. That’s just happening. That’s not going to hurt them terribly in the rankings, but that also makes their margin of error smaller. Right now, they already have canceled games against Wisconsin, USC, and Stanford. The Navy game that was supposed to be in Dublin was rescheduled to be in Annapolis, the home of the Midshipmen.

Some other games that could end up being a bigger struggle than it looks now is an away game against Pitt on Oct. 17 and a matchup with the Louisville Cardinals to finish off the season.

Another factor on Notre Dame is just pure strength. The ACC said they’d help Notre Dame fill out their schedule, but what if they expect them to go to a pod format to do that? We don’t see Notre Dame doing that full time. That means they’d have to fill the rest of their schedule with other Independents and other willing teams across college football. Teams like New Mexico State and Liberty aren’t going to get the voters excited at all. This schedule flux is impacting the Fighting Irish maybe more than any other team in the nation. It could lead to them finishing the season without a number next to their name for the first time since the disastrous 2016 season.