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The 2026 college football season is quickly approaching.
While there is still some time to work out different kinks to put the best team on the field, there have already been discussions about which team should be No.
1 to start the year.
Who Deserves the No.
1 Ranking? The Indiana Hoosiers are the defending national champions, but the team is replacing several key pieces, like Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza.
The Texas Longhorns were last season's preseason No.
1-ranked team and have a loaded roster returning, including quarterback Arch Manning.
The Georgia Bulldogs have been the class of the SEC, winning the last two conference championships.
The Ohio State Buckeyes are arguably the most talented team in the sport.
However, none of those teams are the ones college football analyst Josh Pate feels are the the best.
Josh Pate Picks Notre Dame On "Josh Pate's College Football Show," he stated that he thinks the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the best team in the country.
"Notre Dame is on the clock this year," Pate said.
"These are not pressure-cooker, hot-seat, on-the-clock conversations.
Marcus Freeman's not going anywhere..
They've got everything they need to win a national title.
I think they'll be right there in the mix.
As far as I'm concerned, coming out of the spring, I would have put them No.
1 in the country." The Fighting Irish went 10-2 last season, but were snubbed from a College Football Playoff berth.
They headed into conference championship weekend in the playoff field; however, after the weekend was over, the Miami Hurricanes jumped Notre Dame in the standings, despite neither team playing that weekend.
Notre Dame then elected not to play in a bowl game.
Why the Fighting Irish Are Built to Win There are a lot of reasons to be high on Notre Dame this season.
The Fighting Irish rank No.
1 in returning production in college football.
They return 72% of their production from last year.
That is led by quarterback CJ Carr and cornerback Leonard Moore.
Both are arguably the best at their position.
Notre Dame has all the ingredients of a national championship contender: an experienced roster, elite returning production and one of the nation's top quarterbacks in Carr.
The challenge now is turning that potential into results.
If the Fighting Irish live up to the lofty expectations surrounding them, they could not only justify Pate's No.
1 ranking but also end a national championship drought that stretches back nearly four decades.
Jaron Spor has nearly a decade of journalism experience, initially as a news anchor/reporter in Wichita Falls, Texas and then covering the Oklahoma Sooners for USA Today's Sooners Wire.
He has written about pro and college sports for Athlon and serves as a host across the Locked On Podcast Network focusing on Mississippi State and the Tampa Bay Bucs.
Follow JaronSpor.