Notre Dame & USC 2026 Early Preview: Both Are Elite Contenders?!! | College GameDay Podcast

0:10 Let's do all let's go on the field here and play a little good,

0:14 really good, or great for the upcoming college football season.

0:18 I'll give you a I've written down a few.

0:20 I'll give you three here and I'll I'll opine on these two.

0:26 Go.

0:25 Let's start with Notre Dame.

0:29 good, really good, or great.

0:33 Great meaning play for or win if you think the national championship.

0:38 What do you think?

0:40 I say great.

0:41 Uh I think last show I predicted if you

0:44 you made my number one overall pick next year prediction.

0:47 I went with CJ Carr.

0:48 Granted, I think I picked third on that, so

0:50 maybe I wouldn't have picked him as the first shot, but I think CJ Carr is uh

0:55 is is exceptional quarterback and and the potential for a real breakout year.

1:00 Obviously, the running back losses of uh of Love and Price are are significant,

1:05 but this is a a program built on continuity.

1:09 Uh Marcus Freeman has upgraded the recruiting and the and the players he's

1:13 brought in at a lot of skill positions uh and talent and I

1:18 think it's a team with a big chip on his shoulder because

1:21 uh if we're talking about the best teams in the country last year,

1:23 it should have been in the playoff.

1:24 I understand why they didn't and I actually fine with it

1:27 because I want games like the first week against Miami to matter.

1:30 That's how I like college football where every week

1:32 matters and that's what Notre Dame got caught up in.

1:35 But um there was no question that that Notre

1:38 Dame Notre Dame could have won the national

1:40 title last year and I think um this year's

1:44 team is going to be every bit as good.

1:46 The schedule is not particularly challenging.

1:49 So I you know there's SMU, there's a few games here and there, but

1:53 uh they should be able to kind of roll through and get into that playoff.

1:56 So, I am I am predicting um uh uh big big things between uh in the lines,

2:05 the defense, car, great house, all these guys.

2:08 Uh they got a lot of guys back.

2:09 So, I'm going great with Notre Dame.

2:12 I I'm going great with Notre Dame and I'm I'm

2:15 al almost worried that we're all putting the whammy on them

2:19 because I I saw our friend Stanford Steve I think either

2:22 picked them preseason number one or to win the national championship.

2:26 I plan to reserving the right to change our minds when the magazines come out.

2:31 We look at them uh in depth obviously tongue and cheek.

2:34 I plan on picking them to win the national championship.

2:37 Oh, they certainly have they have a couple of

2:39 they have a couple of uh offensive lineman replaced,

2:42 but they've they've recruited well there.

2:44 They've done a good job in the portal, retained a lot of guys.

2:47 Got a running back in Williams coming back.

2:50 I don't know if it'll be Jeremiah Love, but they've got some experience there.

2:53 And they've got CJ Karp that you've talked about.

2:55 So, um I'm going to go You play Miami and BYU also.

2:59 So, there there's some games, but it's not a it's not a murderous row schedule.

3:03 I just want to say that that my that Miami game might will be gargantuan.

3:09 That's in November, I believe, if memory serves.

3:12 And I think Miami is going to be really really good.

3:15 Miami is loaded.

3:17 I know they lost a ton on the lines of scrimmage,

3:20 but I think Miami is a lot more loaded than people realize.

3:24 So, we both are great on Notre Dame.

3:27 Let's go USC.

3:29 some looking at this as sort of a near make or break year for Lincoln Riley.

3:35 He's he said that maybe that they're in the window

3:39 that they're in the window of opportunity for greatness here.

3:42 They've been they've been good.

3:44 I'm sure they'll be good again.

3:45 Are they going to be good?

3:46 They're going to be really good or do you think they could be great?

3:49 Uh I'm going to be just I'm going to go good to really good.

3:53 Uh I'm going to go good.

3:55 I I got to see it from this USC team.

3:57 I got to see how a USC team plays in the Big 10 with that much travel.

4:03 I know it's an excuse, but it's also a reality.

4:06 Um, are they really ready for that grind?

4:11 They have a potential to be great.

4:12 No question.

4:13 Um, but they've had a lot of promise the last few years.

4:17 I think the fact that Lincoln, the whole fact that Lincoln's like, "Okay,

4:21 we finally got it to where we can we can really

4:23 compete was sort of a a a detriment to, you know,

4:28 it's like really it took that long." Um,

4:33 I'm not I'm just I'm just not I'm just not a ton convinced on on all of it.

4:37 I can't say that I've studied all of their their portal guys.

4:40 I know they got uh Terrell Anderson I think they got

4:42 out of NC State maybe to come in as a wide receiver,

4:45 but man, you lose Mai Lemon and things like that.

4:47 They'll have some players, but I got to see it.

4:50 Can they handle that grind?

4:51 Can they beat Can they be the best Big 10 team?

4:54 To be great, you got to be top two or three in the Big 10,

4:57 and I don't know that they can handle that um all the way.

5:00 So, good.

5:01 Sure.

5:01 Definitely.

5:02 They're always good.

5:03 Um great.

5:05 I'm not sure.

5:08 I'm I'm I'm good.

5:10 They'll be good.

5:11 Uh they might knock off somebody that you don't expect them to.

5:16 They might dump one that they probably should win.

5:18 I'm going to say good nine wins, you know,

5:22 something something of that uh along those lines.

5:26 They got rid of Notre Dame off the schedule, right?

5:29 I mean, they got rid of that.

5:30 That I guess helps.

5:32 But I'm looking at Ruters, at Penn State, at Wisconsin, at Indiana.

5:37 That's a lot of traveling.

5:40 Yeah.

5:40 And I mean just unconscionable for uh someone who loves the tradition

5:46 of the sport to me that SC and Notre Dame aren't playing.

5:50 Absolutely.

5:50 Should be that's private equity at work there.

5:52 Yeah.

5:56 Yeah.

5:55 I mean that's the concept.

5:57 USC is in the Big 10 for a reason.

6:00 And they go, "Oh, we're going to play all these more n Okay,

6:02 you did, but all you really did was trade,

6:04 let's say, Penn State or Ohio State for Notre Dame."

6:08 like you're no longer you lost the Notre Dame game,

6:11 so you get more money and all that, but like that's

6:13 that's what that's what the when the when it's all about business,

6:17 that's what happens.

6:18 And you go, wait, how how did how did something as great

6:20 as Ohio State or uh USC Notre Dame just go away?

6:25 Well, here we are.

6:27 Arch Manning, good, really good, or great?

6:31 All right, I'm going to go I know where you're going to go,

6:34 so we're going to try to make this at least a little interesting.

6:36 I'm gonna go really good.

6:39 Uh, first off, he is he's a really good player.

6:43 Um,

6:44 and he should have a lot of weapons around him, but once again,

6:52 there's going to be just so much hype and attention, so much focus.

6:57 I said this last year, like I don't recall a player who had barely played being

7:04 such a focal point of a sport of of college football.

7:07 Rarely does one player become the focal point

7:10 going into a season, but it does happen.

7:12 But it's when a great proven player is returning.

7:15 Like there was so much hype on Johnny Manzel's second year,

7:18 Tim Tibo coming back or guys like that when

7:21 the truly great player is coming back and everyone's like boom.

7:25 It was all Arch Manning last year even

7:27 though he had only played uh uh sparingly.

7:30 Um I I want to see him to to be truly great,

7:35 be top one, two pick in the draft, that type of thing.

7:39 Uh he's still got some work to do to me, but is he very good?

7:42 Yes.

7:42 So, I'm gonna go really good.

7:44 Uh but there's going to be a lot of focus,

7:47 defensive focus, ways to shut him down.

7:49 Everyone's going to want to crack at him.

7:51 And uh there's going to be enormous pressure,

7:53 and it's going to be really interesting to see what he can do.

7:56 There there's a he does a lot of things well,

7:58 but he did a lot of things poorly also.

8:00 And maybe that's just the growing pains of being a college football player.

8:02 And uh hopefully when you get that second

8:05 year as a full-time starter, you improve.

8:06 But, uh, I got to see it before I go.

8:08 Great.

8:10 Uh, I might surprise you a little bit.

8:13 I'm because this is our show and even though I gave us three categories,

8:18 you inspired me to go in between.

8:20 I'm going to go between really good and great.

8:23 Uh, he's going to be really good because

8:25 by the end of last year, he was really good.

8:28 Yeah.

8:28 Um, but I some of the things you talked about the the catastrophic mistakes,

8:34 taking some big hits, things like that got to diminish those.

8:38 So, I'll go really good to great.

8:40 If he's great, Texas uh could win the national championship.

8:46 If he's really good, you know, they're contending for a playoff spot in there.

8:51 Last one here, and this might be a little bit different.

8:53 Boy, the Matt Patricia hire worked out so well for Ohio State last year.

8:58 In fact, it was it was a brilliant, inspired hire.

9:02 Now, they turned to the NFL again

9:04 for their offensive coordinator in Arthur Smith.

9:08 Ohio State offense under Arthur Smith

9:13 compared to the defense under Matt Patricia.

9:16 Will it be a good comparison, a really good comparison,

9:19 or a great comparison by the end?

9:23 So, all right.

9:23 So, we It's But it's on the It's on the scale.

9:26 It's on the curve.

9:26 It's on the scale.

9:27 You can put it on the curve.

9:28 So, basically, is Ohio State's offense going to be better than their defense?

9:32 No.

9:33 Is it is is the higher going to work out and all

9:37 of those weapons be fully utilized as well as Patricia used it on the defense?

9:42 Will people say this was a really good offensive coordinator hire?

9:46 Offensive hire.

9:47 Uh, I would say yeah, I'll go great on that.

9:50 I don't think that's going to be Ohio State's issue.

9:52 Uh, you know, first off, there's coming in to the NFL,

9:57 you got a whole bunch of NFL players to uh to work with here.

10:00 And if you can just start with Julian uh with with Sean

10:04 and Smith as your as your one two right there.

10:08 Um, you've got a you got a lot of options because you have basically Jeremiah

10:12 Smith the best player in college football probably

10:14 if you're just talking about a pure player.

10:16 And then Julian Saiyan was not I don't think

10:20 is not a was not an elite quarterback last year,

10:22 but man was he accurate and yeah he had great targets to throw to.

10:26 But as he continues to progress and showed

10:28 that accuracy and generally speaking an ability to avoid mistakes,

10:34 uh I would expect that growth only continues.

10:36 So I think Arthur Smith will do a great

10:38 job with that with that Ohio State offense.

10:40 That scoring points for the Buckeyes um not a not a big concern.

10:46 uh tougher schedule this year.

10:47 Obviously, you're at Texas this year instead of at home.

10:50 Um they're at SC playing Oregon and at Nebraska.

10:56 That could be interesting at Iowa and Illinois.

10:58 I mean, it's definitely a tougher schedule than they had a year ago.

11:00 And then you got the uh the Michigan game down at the shoe.

11:04 So, um they'll have to be good,

11:06 but I I think there should be a lot expected of that.

11:09 I think that was a smart hire.

11:10 And um it it kind of goes a little bit

11:13 to it's a slightly different what you're talking about on coaches,

11:17 but like they didn't bring Patricia.

11:19 He used to have to have a coordinators that could recruit, right?

11:23 He's got great recruiting ties to this place or that.

11:25 Ohio State's like, "No, we we need we need coordinators." So,

11:28 I'm going to get a former we're going to get former NFL coaches in here.

11:32 And our job is so desirable as a place to go coach that I can attract them.

11:39 A, we can pay them and B, these the the NFL coaches want to do it.

11:45 And a lot of times NFL coaches come back, it doesn't work.

11:47 But I think you you you see how good those coordinators were.

11:51 And I I wonder, you know, you saw the when Michigan won, they you know,

11:55 three of their three of their coordinators end

11:57 up becoming NFL head coaches or or county ball.

11:59 Two coordinators and Arbball moved back.

12:02 Arbball moves back in.

12:03 And so it's a little bit of that.

12:05 The Big 10's like, "Hey, we got the talent now.

12:07 Let's just really coach them up.

12:08 I don't really care whether the guy's got uh you know 50

12:11 years of uh recruiting experience up in Cleveland or something like that.

12:14 It doesn't matter anymore.

12:15 We're we're Ohio State radio players.

12:17 So interesting hire.

12:18 Uh right along those lines, but I I think it Buckeyes will be well coached.

12:22 I'm pretty confident of that.

12:24 I think it's going to go great because not only

12:26 because Arthur Smith is a really good coach and had

12:29 success in the in the NFL and he has

12:32 a background it's been years ago now but a background

12:34 in college but any coach would tell you it's

12:37 a great thing to start with Jeremiah Smith who regardless

12:42 of what quarterbacks come out I don't know that I

12:44 just wouldn't take him number one overall anyway in the draft.

12:48 You know, look, quarterback needy league.

12:50 If you're a franchise, got to have a quarterback.

12:52 You know, maybe you take if CJ Carr comes out, if Harts comes out,

12:55 you know, maybe you maybe you take one of those guys.

12:58 I get that.

12:59 But much like to me,

13:01 Bailey and maybe DS were the two best players in the draft this past year.

13:07 Smith, you're going to be hardressed to convince anyone

13:10 that Jeremiah Smith's not the best player in the draft coming out next year.

13:14 And that's a great place to start.

13:15 That comparison will will work out great.