How Many Games Will Notre Dame Win In 2024? (2024)

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Notre Dame’s schedule sets up to be lighter in 2024 compared to 2023. This isn’t in regards to simply the teams on the schedule, but it’s also a matter of the spread out nature of said schedule. Notre Dame will not open with eight straight weeks of games this season and only plays in three true road games all year.

Also benefiting Notre Dame is the fact that two of their toughest games are in South Bend hosting both Louisville and Florda State in the stadium that the recently traveled Rockne built. Certainly, there will be some surprise challenges as there are in every season, but the literal spacing and location of the games are significantly more easy to navigate no matter what teams rise or fall.

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Marcus Freeman is entering his third year at Notre Dame. It’s perfectly reasonable too expect him to be a better coach now than when he started out. Let’s face it. The learning curve has been public and harsh. From only having 10 men to defend Ohio State in the most important game of his tenure to date to the team not being prepared to face Louisville, lessons have been learned and Marcus should be a better coach because of them.

I’m confident that Freeman will be more confident in himself and how he goes about his business from now on. He’s a very intelligent person and I’m sure he’s internalized his early struggles and has continued to analyze them and make needed corrections and or changes in approach or theory.

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Marcus Freeman has built what I believe may be Notre Dame’s most well-rounded staff since Lou Holtz in the early 90s. One would be hard-pressed to find many better duos of coordinators than Al Golden and Mike Denbrock. These proven elder statesmen will be able to support Freeman and help him develop.

Supporting these coaches are many younger, energetic recruiters and developers. This is a terrific blend that I think will help Notre Dame get to the next level in college football. Kudos to Irish brass for ponying up the necessary funds to secure such a well-rounded and well-respected staff.

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The thing I’m most confident in about the ’24 Irish squad is that assuming reasonable health, they will have a top 10 or better defense. Even if the Notre Dame offense struggles to find it’s way early in the year, this defense should be able to smother 9-10 of the offenses they’re set to face in a major way.

I expect Notre Dame’s offense to be more electric this year, but even if they weren’t, this defense can likely drag the offense over the finish line 9-10 times as they have done the first two years of the Freeman era and most of Kelly’s tenure as well. This bodes well for an ultimate win total of around 10.5

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Notre Dame fans have high expectations this year. Most I’ve interacted with have their eyes on an 11-1 campaign as their target goal for 2024. Combining the schedule, roster, and coaching, this feels about right to me but with one large caveat. Texas A&M.

Should Notre Dame lose to the Aggies in week one, the path to 11-1 gets tough really fast as the Irish would have to be perfect for their remaining 11 games. Dropping game one would kill all Irish buzz and would place Notre Dame’s playoff hopes against the wall from the get-go. A scenario all Irish fans would prefer to avoid. This game has outsized importance both in terms of practical and perceptual momentum. Notre Dame doesn’t have to be perfect in week 1, just good enough to emerge from the heat of Texas with a win.

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