Another week of the 2026 college football offseason is in the books, and the conversation around Notre Dame football remains as lively as ever. Here at Irish Breakdown, we've been diving deep into the topics that matter most to the Fighting Irish faithful.

This week's discussions ranged from analyzing what truly makes a championship-caliber roster—and whether one is being built in South Bend—to ranking the top 10 overall rosters in the nation. We also broke down Notre Dame's latest spring practice, examined why their impressive transfer portal class continues to fly under the national radar, and debated which teams, from historic rivals to new challengers, we'd love to see on the schedule annually.

We're capping it all off with our Friday Free-For-All Mailbag, answering the best questions from our listeners. You can catch the full, unfiltered conversation on the latest Irish Breakdown Podcast. For now, here are a couple of the standout topics we tackled.

On the hunt for an early-season upset prediction? We're going bold. "I actually have one. I have Auburn winning the Iron Bowl this year down in Tuscaloosa. We're either going to look like geniuses or morons because we're riding the Auburn hype train hard. This isn't a national title pick, but we believe they'll be vastly improved. They suffered through several close losses last year and weren't far from a nine or ten-win season. With better coaching and quarterback play this fall, and facing an Alabama defense that has struggled with discipline, quarterback Byrum Brown could put up Heisman-type numbers against them."

When asked which position group typically features the deepest rotation in modern football, the answer points straight to the trenches. "In more recent years, I'm actually going to go with the defensive line. The new, extended playoff format and longer seasons are forcing teams to build deeper rotations to keep their big men fresh. Look at Notre Dame..."