With a jam-packed Week 1 slate approaching, it’s time for the last preseason College Football Playoff national champion picks. FOX Sports’ Brady Quinn shared his prediction Friday. Quinn went with his alma mater, Notre Dame, to win it all. He pointed out how few games have been played after Week 0 and a few Thursday […]
With a jam-packed Week 1 slate approaching, it’s time for the last preseason College Football Playoff national champion picks. FOX Sports’ Brady Quinn shared his prediction Friday.
Quinn went with his alma mater, Notre Dame, to win it all. He pointed out how few games have been played after Week 0 and a few Thursday matchups, and he opted to go with a team fresh off a CFP national title game appearance last season.
Notre Dame has a high-profile opener looming against Miami on Sunday. The Fighting Irish are looking to return to the championship game, and Quinn predicted they could win it this time.
“There’s only been a few games played,” Quinn said in a video posted to X. “So I’m going to say Notre Dame.”
Notre Dame is currently +1200 to win the national title this year, according to BetMGM. Those are the eighth-shortest odds and put the Fighting Irish just behind Alabama, which sits at +1000 to bring home the crown.
Marcus Freeman’s group is looking to build on last year’s impressive run, which ended with a loss to Ohio State in the title game. Notre Dame notably has its star running back returning in Jeremiyah Love and also has the other half of the two-headed monster back in Jadarian Price. The program also bolstered its wide receiver room this year with a group of transfers headlined by former Virginia star Malachi Fields.
However, the biggest change for the Fighting Irish came at quarterback. After a long competition that began in the spring, CJ Carr won the starting job, beating out Kenny Minchey. That means he will get the first snaps in Sunday’s primetime showdown against Miami – a Top-10 battle at Hard Rock Stadium.
It was a tough decision, which Freeman took until Aug. 19 to make. As for why Carr was the answer, the Notre Dame headman said he had to go with his gut – meaning he had to look beyond the box scores from practices and scrimmages.
“I just had to make a difficult decision,” Freeman said, “and I had to trust my gut a little bit. What I felt like we needed going into Week 1 against this opponent, who will be able to handle that decision the right way. I think all of those things played into my decision. But that’s kind of it. That’s a little bit of a gray answer.”
Category: General Sports
