Notre Dame had a ton to overhaul entering the 1993 season, but finished one win away from a national championship. 2025 sets up to feel a lot like that season.

Notre Dame is undoubtedly a top-eight team next year, but they earned the right be a top-four team.

Notre Dame had a magical 2024 season that ended with the Irish setting a program record for wins (14). The Irish earned a berth in the first-ever 12-team playoff and won three games on their way to the national championship game. Notre Dame fell short of a title, but it was a brilliant season for the program.

The Notre Dame men's basketball team left a lot to be desired in its 97-73 loss to SMU, its worst of the season. But there was one good thing to come out of this awful game. That was the football team being there to be honored.

With College Football Playoff expansion almost a given thanks to the Big Ten and SEC, Notre Dame's independence only gains strength.

The change supported by the leagues would eliminate the reservation of top-four seeds and first-round byes for conference champions.

We are still a long way away from the start of the 2025 college football season, but it's never too early to look ahead and make some predictions about what is expected to be another highly competitive season.

Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti said both conferences are in favor of going to “straight seeding,” so that “there’s no difference between rankings and seedings.”