🏈 Fan Watch

#3Notre Dame Fighting Irish

1–0 · 0–0 FBS INDEPENDENTS
In the books
WEEK 2 · 2026
Week 2 pregame guide

Notre Dame’s defense takes center stage in Week 2

Rice brings an unusual option test to South Bend, while two long-shot upsets could improve Notre Dame’s path to a first-round bye.

Read the rooting guide →
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman sits with Riley Leonard and Jack Kiser after a game.
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman with Riley Leonard and Jack Kiser.
CreditPhoto creditBobak Ha'EriWikimedia Commons · CC BY 3.0Cropped to 16:9, resized and converted to WebP by Fan Watch.

Your game

Rice at Notre Dame
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NBC
Final
Rice
Final · Rice 0–52 Notre DameWish granted ✓
Notre Dame

Other impactful games

the highlighted team was the result Notre Dame wanted
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CBS
Impact 1
Texas Tech
at
Rooted for
Oregon State
Final · Texas Tech 35–24 Oregon StateWent the other way ✗
Projected 2.6-point first-round-bye boost

Texas Tech won instead, so Notre Dame did not get the result it wanted.

Entering-week projection60% if Oregon State won58% with the other result2.6-point differenceNotre Dame first-round bye chance
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FOX
Impact 2
Arizona
at
Rooted for
BYU
Final · Arizona 17–28 BYUWish granted ✓
Projected 2.3-point first-round-bye boost

BYU won, helping protect Notre Dame's path to a top-four seed and first-round bye.

Entering-week projection59% if BYU won56% with the other result2.3-point differenceNotre Dame first-round bye chance
46 other games had little impact
Ohio State at Texas · ABC
Bowling Green at Nebraska · FS1
Rutgers at Boston College · ESPN2
Missouri at Kansas · FOX
Oklahoma at Michigan · FOX
Arizona State at Texas A&M · ABC
Washington State at Kansas State · TNT
Oregon at Oklahoma State · ESPN
Old Dominion at Virginia Tech · The CW Network
Wake Forest at Purdue · FS1
Penn State at Temple · ESPN2
South Florida at Army · CBSSN
App State at East Carolina · ESPNU
Western Kentucky at Georgia · SEC Network
Alabama at Kentucky · ABC
Mississippi State at Minnesota · CBS
UCF at Pittsburgh · ESPN2
California at Syracuse · ACC Network
Duke at Illinois · FS1
Eastern Michigan at Michigan State · BTN
Maryland at UConn · CBSSN
Utah State at Washington · BTN
UTSA at Texas State · The CW Network
UL Monroe at UAB · ESPN+
UNLV at North Texas · ESPNU
Delaware at Vanderbilt · SEC Network
Memphis at Boise State · USA Network
Buffalo at Florida International · ESPN+
Jacksonville State at Ohio · ESPN+
Tennessee at Georgia Tech · ESPN
Tulsa at Sam Houston · ESPN+
South Alabama at Tulane · ESPN+
Georgia State at Kennesaw State · ESPN+
Middle Tennessee at Marshall · ESPN+
San Diego State at UCLA · BTN
Iowa State at Iowa · NBC
Georgia Southern at Clemson · ACC Network
Navy at Florida Atlantic · ESPNU
Louisiana Tech at LSU · SECN+
Southern Miss at Auburn · SEC Network
Charlotte at Ole Miss · ESPN2
North Dakota State at Air Force · FS1
Arkansas at Utah · ESPN
Sacramento State at Fresno State · CBSSN
Louisiana at USC · BTN
New Mexico State at Hawai'i · MW+
The rooting list was:Notre Dame, then Oregon State, BYU.

Based on 50,000 season simulations entering week 2, anchored to the AP Top 25 (week 2). How the model works.