Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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16 PRESEASON 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Amaya Aramini — Track & Field The rising junior from Reno, Nev., earned honorable men- tion All-America honors at the 2026 NCAA Outdoor Champi- onships June 10-13 in Eugene, Ore., with a 17th-place finish in the 10,000-meter race. Aramini punched her ticket to the national championship meet after finish- ing sixth with a time of 32:54.71 in the event at the NCAA Regional May 27-30 in Lexington, Ky. Jacob Modleski — Golf Following a strong 17th-place performance at the ACC Championships in April, and after leading the Irish to a ninth-place fin- ish at the NCAA Regional in May, the rising senior from Noblesville, Ind., was named to the All-ACC Team June 15. Modleski competed in all 12 tournaments for Notre Dame during the 2025- 26 season and led the Irish with eight top-10 finishes. He also earned a spot on Team USA in the 2026 Arnold Palmer Cup in June. Obiora Okeke — Track & Field The Irish graduate stu- dent from Hawthorne, Calif., earned honorable mention All-America honors with an 18th-place finish in the shot put at the 2026 NCAA O u t d o o r C h a m p i o n s h i p s June 10-13 in Eugene, Ore. Okeke secured a spot in the national cham- pionship meet after finishing fourth in the shot put with a throw of 19.32 meters at the NCAA Regional May 27-30 in Lexington, Ky. Isabella Sangha — Basketball Shortly before arriving to Notre Dame for summer workouts, the in- coming Irish freshman from Toronto competed for Can- ada and won a silver medal at the 2026 FIBA U18 Wom- en's AmeriCup in Irapuato, Mexico. In four appearances with Team Canada, Sangha averaged 3.8 points and 3.5 rebounds in 10.6 minutes per game. The 6-foot-3 forward will also play volleyball for Notre Dame this fall. — Todd D. Burlage TOP TOP OF THE CLASS OF THE CLASS Irish student-athletes excelling on the field and in the classroom ✦ GIMME FIVE The Shamrock Series has been good to Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish are a perfect 12-0 in the neutral- site matchup series that is unique to their program and brand and has been played in more years than not since its inception in 2009. This year's game against Wisconsin at Lambeau Field will signify the fifth different venue and fourth differ- ent opponent Notre Dame has faced in the Shamrock Series since 2016. In the five previous Shamrock Series games prior to this one, Notre Dame was a winner by at least four touchdowns in all but one. The only game that was close was a 28-20 win against BYU in Las Vegas in Marcus Freeman's first season as head coach. The game against the Cougars was a rare instance of the Irish being just a slight favorite in a Shamrock Series game. Usually they're a big favorite. According to OddsShark, the Irish were favored to beat BYU by 3.5 points. The other four point spreads in Notre Dame's last handful of Shamrock Series games were ND -14.5, ND-14.0, ND -10.0 and ND -6.0. For what it's worth, Notre Dame was a whopping 20.5-point favorite over Wisconsin, as of late July, in this year's season opener. Obviously, the Irish sched- uled the Badgers for the Shamrock Series game with the thought they 'd give them a good test in a mar- quee matchup. And maybe they still will. It's just that Shamrock Series history sug- gests they will not. — Tyler Horka CHARTING THE IRISH THE USUAL SUSPECTS … AND NOTRE DAME Heading into the 2026 season, ESPN's Football Power Index algorithm is headed by the usual sus- pects. Ohio State, Texas, Oregon, Georgia. Can't forget about reigning national champion Indiana. Or Notre Dame. It's the Buckeyes at No. 1 and Longhorns at No. 2, as far as the FPI top two goes, and it's the Fight- ing Irish at No. 3. The FPI, according to ESPN's website, "is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of a team's performance going forward for the rest of the season." The calculation comes out to a number that indicates how many points above or below average a team is. Ohio State has the highest preseason score with a mark of 28.7. Texas is next at 26.9. Notre Dame checks in at No. 3 with a figure of 25.9. The FPI is about more than just those numbers, however. It also projects a win-loss total down to a tenth of a victory. The Irish are predicted to win 10.7 games. The only team in the country with a higher predicted win total is Texas Tech at 10.8. It's the Irish, though, that have the best chance of winning every single one of their regular-season games. The FPI has that percentage sitting at 32.7. Texas Tech is second at 25.2. As for qualifying for the national championship and winning the whole thing, Notre Dame has a 74.1 percent chance of doing the former and a 10.6 percent chance of achieving the latter. Those chances rank second and third, respectively, per the FPI. Ohio State is ahead of Notre Dame in the playoff per- centage category, and Ohio State and Texas are the two teams with a better shot of earning the national title than the Irish. — Tyler Horka NOTRE DAME'S LAST FIVE SHAMROCK SERIES RESULTS Date Location Opponent Result Nov. 12, 2016 Alamodome Army W, 44-6 Nov. 17, 2018 Yankee Stadium Syracuse W, 36-3 Sept. 25, 2021 Soldier Field Wisconsin W, 41-13 Oct. 8, 2022 Allegiant Stadium BYU W, 28-20 Oct. 5, 2024 Yankee Stadium Army W, 49-14 ESPN'S 2026 PRESEASON FOOTBALL POWER INDEX RANKINGS Rk. Team FPI 1. Ohio State 28.7 2. Texas 26.9 3. Notre Dame 25.9 4. Oregon 25.3 5. Georgia 24.8 6. Indiana 23.1 7. Miami 21.8 8. Alabama 20.1 9. LSU 20.0 10. Texas Tech 20.0 The last time Notre Dame faced Wisconsin prior to 2026, the Fighting Irish beat the Badgers 41-13 at Soldier Field in Cicago on Sept. 25, 2021. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS