How high does Notre Dame land in ESPN’s first SP+ rankings of 2026?
Analytics say Notre Dame looks built for a deep 2026 run. See why SP+ puts the Irish in elite company—and what that really means for their season.
Preseason football metrics are slowly coming out and continue to confirm this could be a very good Notre Dame season ahead. ESPN's Bill Connelly released his preseason SP+ rankings for the upcoming season and Notre Dame showed up as No. 3.
The rankings are more than just reputation and bias, it is a data-driven sign that the Irish should see themselves as contenders next season. What is SP+? Well, it’s Connelly's tempo and opponent-adjusted efficiency metric, built to answer one question: how good are you really, play for play, against an average team on a neutral field.
It is explicitly predictive, meaning it focuses on sustainable aspects of performance — efficiency, explosiveness, field position, finishing drives and turnovers — rather than win-loss résumé or brand name. What SP+ does NOT do, is add any preconceived biases into it's data. There is no extra credit for having a gauntlet of a schedule or being undefeated.
In fact, "lucky" or unimpressive wins can actually make a team's rating go down and the opposite can happen if a team puts up a very competitive effort in a loss. 🎉🥳🎉🥳🎉🥳🎉🥳🎉🥳 INITIAL 2026 SP+ RANKINGS, FINALLY 🕺🪩🕺🪩🕺🪩🕺🪩🕺🪩 Ohio State's No. 1, Indiana's [throws dart] No.