Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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14 PRESEASON 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED NUMBERS AND QUOTES BY STEVE DOWNEY UNDER THE DOME 6 Football programs set up to dominate the back half of the decade, per CBS Sports, are: Ohio State, Georgia, Notre Dame, Texas, Oregon and Indiana. "The Irish are among the 10 biggest spend- ers in the sport," Chris Hummer of CBS Sports noted. "They offer arguably the best combina- tion of a high floor — thanks to the schedule and annual top-10 recruiting classes — and a high ceiling in college football heading into the second half of the decade." 1st 1st Is where Notre Dame was ranked in ESPN's annual future power rankings, which project a football program's potential for success for the next two seasons (in this case 2026 and 2027), up from No. 5 a year ago. Teams are evaluated by quarterback situation, offensive line/defensive line outlook, roster man- agement, star power (All-Americans, national award contenders, all-conference contenders) and coaching staff. $2.1 Billion Projected program valuation for Notre Dame foot- ball by The Athletic. That ranked third behind No. 1 Texas at $2.46 billion and No. 2 Ohio State at $2.3 bil- lion. The Athletic used actual transactions in profes- sional leagues to compare a team's sale price with its average revenue, using financial numbers reported by the schools themselves while also considering factors such as brand power, demographics and conference realignment to settle on their valuation. "In the 2024-25 fiscal year, Notre Dame reported more football revenue (almost $196 million) to the U.S. Department of Education than anyone else," The Athletic noted. "Its recent average, however, still trailed Texas by $27 million, and the Irish have shown more volatility as a program than Ohio State. Our number puts Notre Dame football on par with the valuation of the average NHL team (according to Sportico)." NCAA FBS PROGRAM VALUATION PROJECTIONS Rk. Team 2025 value 2026 value 1. Texas $2.38 billion $2.46 billion 2. Ohio State $1.9 billion $2.3 billion 3. Notre Dame $1.85 billion $2.1 billion 4. Michigan $1.83 billion $2 billion 5. Georgia $1.92 billion $1.95 billion 6. Alabama $1.74 billion $1.8 billion 7. Oklahoma $1.49 billion $1.6 billion Southern Cal $1.40 billion $1.6 billion 9. Tennessee $1.37 billion $1.57 billion 10. Penn State $1.2 billion $1.4 billion No. 1 Defensive player in the country heading into 2026 is Notre Dame junior cornerback Leonard Moore in the eyes of more than 20 front office staff members across the sport, including general managers, player personnel directors and scouting directors in a poll conducted by ESPN. "Nobody gives him fits," one Power Four director of player personnel (DPP) told ESPN. "That's hard to really say about any other defensive player. Leonard Moore doesn't struggle with anybody. You can put him on anybody in the country. … He's the ultimate shutdown guy." "That kid takes away half the field," a former SEC staffer said. "The biggest thing is he can make an offense have to adjust to Plan B," another DPP told ESPN. "They took away [Southern Cal wide receiver] Makai Lemon last year, and it's part of the reason they won the game. They put the best player in the country on him. He's just so naturally gifted that it was easy for him. … He can stop anybody you throw at him." Moore's first two seasons have been better than those of any cornerback in the PFF College era. According to PFF's wins above average metric, he ranked as the third-most valuable cornerback in the nation as a true freshman in 2024, trailing only 2025 first-round picks Travis Hunter and Jahdae Barron. Moore earned a nation- leading 91.8 PFF grade as a sophomore and was PFF's pick for the Jim Thorpe Award as college football's top defensive back. He has recorded 7 career interceptions and projects as one of the best cornerback prospects in recent memory." — Max Chadwick of PFF on Notre Dame junior Leonard Moore being the top cornerback and No. 2 overall player in college football heading into the 2026 season 4 Notre Dame players made the PFF College 50 list of the top overall players in college football for the 2026 season: junior cornerback LEONARD MOORE at No. 2, redshirt sophomore quarterback CJ Carr at No. 14, junior linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa at No. 16 and safety Brauntae Johnson at No. 44. Only Oregon (six) and Texas (five) had more play- ers on the list than the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame, though, was the only school to place three players among the top 20. Moore and Viliamu-Asa were the top players at cornerback and linebacker, respectively, while Johnson was No. 4 at safety and Carr was No. 5 among signal-callers. Four other Irish players were listed among the top returning players at their respective positions: senior Drayk Bowen at No. 6 among linebackers, junior Francis Brewu at No. 7 among defensive linemen, junior Anthonie Knapp at No. 10 among offensive tackles and redshirt junior Boubacar Traore as honor- able mention on the edge list. 4th 4th Is where both CBS Sports and ESPN ranked Notre Dame's Marcus Freeman among the top coaches for the 2026 season, the same spot he was in last season. Indiana's Curt Cignetti (No. 1), Georgia's Kirby Smart (No. 2) and Ohio State's Ryan Day (No. 3) were ranked ahead of Freeman in the same spot in both listings. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER