Mike Golic Jr. and Mike Golic Sr. boiled Notre Dame’s 2026 playoff case down to one phrase from inside the program: “leave no doubt.” On The Rich Eisen Show, the Golics said last year’s snub is clearly part of the backdrop, even if CJ Carr said the team is not dwelling on it, with Jr. summing up the message up simply: “just beat the crap out of everybody and they’re going to obviously have to let you into the tournament.”
The main football takeaway was straightforward. The Golics said Notre Dame can survive one loss as an independent, but two losses, “like we saw last year,” probably would keep the Irish out. The segment also drifted into the usual independence debate, with the joke that Notre Dame is “not really independent” because it plays so much of the Big Ten and ACC, plus some praise for Marcus Freeman, who Rich Eisen said has made Notre Dame “a team that was liked by so many” during the run to the title game against Ohio State.
- The “leave no doubt” line came up through CJ Carr’s appearance and was framed as the program’s phrase for the year.
- Golic Jr. said one loss is manageable for Notre Dame’s playoff path; two likely are not.
- The group revisited last season’s exclusion and treated it as an unavoidable part of the 2026 mindset.
- Eisen said Freeman’s charisma and the team’s story made Notre Dame broadly likable during its playoff push.
- Independence came up again, with the Golics joking Notre Dame already has “a foot in both” the Big Ten and ACC.
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