Notre Dame is projected for a playoff game of deep history and fascinating parallels, but it would be a perfect start for the Irish
Notre Dame has an intriguing College Football Playoff path in front of them.
Heading into this week’s College Football Playoff rankings, many were nervous that Notre Dame football could drop a bit following Oklahoma’s upset over Alabama this past weekend.
The committee, instead, opted to drop the Crimson Tide behind the Fighting Irish, which softened the blow of the Sooners jumping them. Head coach Marcus Freeman’s squad was once again at No. 9, which is a good spot to be in heading into the last two games of the regular season.
If the season were to end today, Notre Dame would be in the playoffs. If the bracket went unchanged, which it will, it would face off against the No. 8 Oklahoma Sooners in the first round. That means that the Irish would travel out to Norman to take on head coach Brent Venables and his improved Sooner squad. That would be an intriguing matchup for a variety of reasons, a perfect start for the Irish, potentially.
Notre Dame vs Oklahoma series history
- Notre Dame and Oklahoma have played 10 times in their series history; the Irish lead with an 8-2 record
- Both teams last played in 2013 when the Sooners won 35-21
- Oklahoma is No. 1 all-time with 50 conference championships
- Notre Dame is No. 1 all-time in consensus All-Americans (110) and NFL Draft picks (581)
- Marcus Freeman and Brent Venables were both hired prior to the 2022 CFB season
Ideal matchup for Notre Dame
There are some interesting parallels between Freeman and Venables. Both coaches come from defensive backgrounds and were considered among the very best defensive coordinators in college football before their ascension to head coach.
Each was also hired before the 2022 season, meaning both are in their fourth seasons leading their respective programs. After some early struggles, for different reasons, it appears that both programs are finally starting to get to the levels that many hoped for when the hires were made.
While there should be a ton of respect given to Oklahoma and Venables, this would be an ideal first-round matchup for this Fighting Irish team. As the Irish offense has had some tremendous moments behind superstar running back Jeremiyah Love and talented young quarterback CJ Carr, it is the defensive group that has made the most progress throughout the 2025 season. Chris Ash’s unit had some early-season struggles, but has rounded into form. It is one of the hotter defenses in the country of late.
On the Oklahoma side, it also has an outstanding defense, ranking eighth in college football by only allowing 14.8 points per game. For as good as that defense is, the Sooners’ offense under coordinator Ben Arbuckle has been much more up and down. They are averaging just 28.3 points per game, scoring under 30 points in six different games. Venables’ team wants to win ugly, and luckily for them, the defense has been up to the challenge.
Notre Dame is a well-balanced team, and I find it hard to believe that a one-dimensional team would defeat them on a bigger stage, even if the Irish are on the road. Oklahoma has a great fanbase, so the atmosphere for this hypothetical game would be great. It is a game; however, I would be very confident in Freeman’s squad to come out on top.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish News
Notre Dame has reinforcements on the way, and it couldn’t be coming at a more perfect time for HC Marcus Freeman and the Irish
If you build it, they will come.
