SOUTH BEND, IN - NOVEMBER 22: Notre Dame Fighting Irish safety Luke Talich (28) runs the ball for a touchdown after catching a blocked punt during the game between the Syracuse Orange and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on November 22, 2025 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, IN. (Photo by Joseph Weiser/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesWhen you have a lot of options, the speed option hits them hardest.BRACKET PLAYDespite Fall camp opening for Notre Dame Football, there wont be very much daily reporting coming out of South Bend as the media is on a leash via the Irish. That stinks for several reasons, and one of those reasons is that more access would at least allow me to ignore most of the preseason predictions but I cant.One of the more noticeable trends going around is for PREDICTOR PERSON to have the Irish AND Miami in the top 4. The Irish and Miami play in November, and what most of these predictions tell us the game wont actually mean anything. Im not saying theyre full of crap, but neither Notre Dame or Miami have a schedule strong enough to survive a loss in this game and remain in the top four hell maybe even the top six, but thats the trend right now.CFP Prediction Version 1.0 pic.twitter.com/yVsTvBQUJh Josh Pate (@JoshPateCFB) August 5, 2026BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEEHeres your chance to be a D1 offensive coordinator for a wee bit. Shoot for the moon yall!Make history and be the lucky season ticket holder to design the opening drive of the home opener when @ZipsFB hosts Robert Morrishttps://t.co/G5aTUlVpzT#GoZips#MakeTheClimbpic.twitter.com/Qzu1w0R29O Akron Football (@ZipsFB) August 4, 2026NOT SO EASY?I dodnt have Brad Crawford defending Notre Dames schedule on the bingo card but August is a magical time of the year.Aight, I'm starting to grow tired of the 'easy Notre Dame schedule' talk.Favorable, yes. Easy? Not exactly.There's potentially 3 playoff teams on it. https://t.co/wG4yUpuW5hpic.twitter.com/ofjIJYLDSA Brad Crawford (@BCrawford247) August 4, 20265-STAR AVALANCHENotre Dames recruiting class is phenomenal, and come signing day it will likely look even better.Notre Dame CB commit Xavier Hasan is @Rivals No. 32 overall player in the 2027 class and is knocking on the door of five-star status Hes already right in five-star range. @CharlesPowerThe latest: https://t.co/C1rTFCAP16pic.twitter.com/PrG9Gv7pNF Mike Singer (@MikeTSinger) August 4, 2026TO BLAMENotre Dame was a big part of the conference realignment mania of the 2010s. While the Irish never did join a conference, a lot of the moves made were attempts to put pressure on Notre Dame to join one (specifically the Big 10). Fast forward to 2026 and were talking about congressional bills that have a ND provision in it without saying it. Independence is wild (and obviously freedom is a scary thing for Americans).Interesting interview with Senator Eric Schmitt, mentions that 19 was chosen to allow for things like Notre Dame to the Big Ten, while preventing more disruptive changes like a private equity-backed super conference of top Big Ten & SEC teams. https://t.co/WpAqoq5Hnx RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) August 3, 2026I wonder, hypotheticallyif the SEC/B1G attempt to kick schools OUT to give them flexibiltiy to add new membership without exceeding the 19 member cap.If that happensdo the schools that get dropped have to be independents for five years before joining a new league? https://t.co/phqF9Obxi6 Matt Brown (@MattBrownEP) August 4, 2026EXPERT PREDICTIONSThis is a true expert folks, and he has the Irish going 12-0 and I cant argue against it. .@CoachBrianKelly gives us a game-by-game look at Notre Dame's 2026 schedule.Do you agree with his predictions? pic.twitter.com/UhH3cY5QIL CBS Sports College Football (@CBSSportsCFB) August 5, 2026RUN ROOKJadarian Price has a big opportunity this year with the Seattle Seahawks, and they looked impressed. Jadarian Price is like the combination of every starting RB Seattle has had since Chris CarsonA defense that hasnt given up a 100 yard rusher in 648 days is struggling with him pic.twitter.com/8mAnWPPqaD xx (@new_era72) August 6, 2026SO RIGHTNotre Dame has a number of position battles this fall camp and its really important to get this right. Jack Soble is spot on with how he framed the position battle wins from last year being a big reason why the Irish started the season 0-2. Notre Dame misevaluated several position battles last year. It cost the Irish against Miami and Texas A&M.The first-half schedule is lighter in 2026, but it's still imperative to get these right.Projections for five key competitions here, via @BGInews: https://t.co/B02WUHkmE1pic.twitter.com/JPIaPgawmZ Jack Soble (@jacksoble56) August 5, 2026