
NHL Rank: From 1 to 100, who will be the best players in 2025-26?
More Videos
Published
1 day agoon
By
adminIt takes more than one elite player to win the Stanley Cup. The repeat champion Florida Panthers continue to prove that is true — and the results of the NHL Rank poll for the 2025-26 season bear that out.
We asked a panel of ESPN broadcasters, analysts, reporters and editors to rate players based on how good they will be this season compared with their peers. Emphasis was placed on their value for this coming season, which explains why players who are out injured (but expected to return) might be lower than if they were healthy now.
In the case of the Panthers, this put Matthew Tkachuk a bit lower than usual, while Aleksander Barkov (who is expected to miss the regular season, if not longer) did not make the cut in the top 100.
Nevertheless, the defending champs put six players in the top 100, which was behind only the Dallas Stars‘ seven for most players to make the list.
As for individuals, Connor McDavid continued his reign as the top vote-getter, holding down the No. 1 spot again, as he did for 2024-25 and 2023-24 and 2022-22 and 2021-22 and … you get the idea.
Here’s the 1-100 list for 2025-26, featuring write-ups courtesy of ESPN reporters Ryan S. Clark, Kristen Shilton, Greg Wyshynski and editorial staff.
2024-25 rank: 1
Age: 28
Simply put, McDavid is the best player on the planet, the best player of his generation, and could finish his career as one of the best to ever touch a puck. An eight-time 100-point scorer, McDavid has captained the Oilers to consecutive Stanley Cup Finals; this season, the objective is having Edmonton win its first title since 1990. — Clark
2024-25 rank: 4
Age: 26
Many types of players are needed to win in the NHL. Among them, a puck-moving defenseman who can also be trusted to play heavy minutes in every scenario. Makar is just that, as the two-time Norris Trophy winner (given to the NHL’s best defenseman) is trusted to drive play in every scenario. — Clark
2024-25 rank: 3
Age: 30
The Avalanche? Team Canada? It doesn’t matter. Any team that has MacKinnon is going to pose a serious threat to win on a nightly basis. His combination of control, power, speed and unpredictability has made him one of the best in the world. Like McDavid, he has a chance to win a gold medal and a Stanley Cup in the same season. Unlike McDavid, the Cup would be his second after the Avs’ win in 2022. — Clark
2024-25 rank: 9
Age: 30
Since 2022-23, Draisaitl is second in goals scored (146) and goals per game (0.63). He’s a dominating offensive star who long ago put to bed the notion that he was simply a product of his teammate, Connor McDavid. — Wyshynski
2024-25 rank: 2
Age: 32
Kucherov led the NHL in points for a second consecutive season and for the third time since 2019. He can either score goals or create them for his teammates, which has been integral to the Lightning winning two titles during his time with the only club he has ever known. — Clark
2024-25 rank: 31
Age: 32
Only four goalies in the NHL’s expansion era (since 1967) have won the Hart Trophy as league MVP; Hellebuyck joined the fraternity in 2025, taking his spot with Carey Price, Jose Theodore and Dominik Hasek. Can Hellebuyck join Hasek as the only goaltenders to pull off the feat two years in a row? — ESPN staff
2024-25 rank: 12
Age: 26
Suggesting that Hughes can do everything asked of a contemporary defenseman isn’t an overstatement. The consistency he has shown in every scenario has made him one of the game’s best players, and someone who could be instrumental in the United States’ chase for a gold medal at the Olympics. — Clark
2024-25 rank: 6
Age: 28
There aren’t many goal scorers who are as pure as Matthews, who possess the sort of shot every player covets. He has tallied 30-plus goals in every season of his career — despite injuries — and does it all for the Leafs as a standout 200-foot center. — Shilton
2024-25 rank: 16
Age: 29
Talent has never been the question with Eichel. But last season, he unlocked aspects of his game that have made him one of the most complete centers in hockey. He’ll help push his team to capture its second title since 2023, while also helping the U.S. in its push for Olympic gold. — Clark
2024-25 rank: 8
Age: 29
Could his first full season in Dallas be the one that sees the Stars win the Stanley Cup that has eluded them over the past few years? Rantanen left Colorado in the NHL’s biggest trade last season and then made his way back to the Central Division in a subsequent deal. But with a long-term pact in hand, he’ll be a key player for the Stars for the foreseeable future. — Clark
2024-25 rank: 11
Age: 29
Pastrnak has scored over 40 goals in four consecutive seasons. Given his career total with the Bruins (391 entering this season), he could move all the way to third in franchise history if he notches another 40 goals in 2025-26. — Wyshynski
2024-25 rank: 27
Age: 31
Some might have surmised that Vasilevskiy was heading into a decline based on 2023-24, when his save percentage dipped to .900 after seven straight seasons at .915 or higher. The 2024-25 campaign ended that talk, as he registered a .921 mark along with a 2.18 GAA and 38 wins. The “Big Cat” can still roar. — ESPN staff
2024-25 rank: 30
Age: 29
The Panthers pulled off a unique feat last season, placing two players in the top two spots in Selke Trophy voting. Florida captain Aleksander Barkov — who won the award — is likely out until April (if not longer), meaning Reinhart and others will have to pick up the slack on both ends of the ice. The scoring part won’t be a problem, as Reinhart has 127 goals in the past three seasons combined. — ESPN staff
2024-25 rank: 26
Age: 29
A one-time Vezina Trophy winner (for now), Shesterkin is easily the best player drafted at No. 118 in NHL history. If the Rangers fail to make the postseason again, it won’t be because of their superstar goaltender. — ESPN staff
2024-25 rank: 17
Age: 28
All anyone needs to know about Kaprizov and his value could be seen last season. Before he got hurt, he was among the front-runners for the Hart Trophy, and the Wild looked as if they could win the Central. But an injury meant that Kaprizov played in just 41 regular-season games. The Wild struggled to score goals in his absence before his eventual return helped them capture a wild-card spot. — Clark
2024-25 rank: 25
Age: 26
Brady Tkachuk captained the Senators to their first Stanley Cup playoff berth since 2017. His goal scoring and physicality will be vital not only to Ottawa in the NHL, but also to Team USA in the 2026 Olympics. — Wyshynski
2024-25 rank: 23
Age: 34
The 6-7 blueliner remains a dominant presence in both ends of the ice: 66 points in 79 games last season, while using physicality and his considerable wingspan to disrupt opponents in his own zone. — Wyshynski
2024-25 rank: 14
Age: 28
Marner is the unique skater who dominates individually while also elevating literally any linemate he’s paired with. A force on special teams — his penalty killing is particularly good — Marner is more likely to try setting up a goal than attempting to score one himself. And the Golden Knights are counting on his playmaking to carry them for years to come — Shilton
2024-25 rank: 35
Age: 26
Part of the Stars’ legendary 2017 draft class (with Miro Heiskanen and Jake Oettinger), Robertson has 269 points in 246 games the past three regular seasons. His line with Roope Hintz and Mikko Rantanen will be one of the NHL’s most dangerous this season. — ESPN staff
2024-25 rank: 58
Age: 28
The Michigan native removed any sense of uncertainty for next summer by signing a team-record $96 million contract extension on the eve of the season — then opened the campaign with a hat trick against the Stars. He’ll also be a key player for the U.S. in the Olympic Games. — ESPN staff
2024-25 rank: 13
Age: 38
Father Time? Crosby has never heard of him, apparently. The Penguins’ captain is playing as well now as he has throughout a legendary career that kept Pittsburgh as a contender for nearly two decades. And Crosby shows no signs of wanting to slow down. — Shilton
2024-25 rank: 55
Age: 38
Season No. 20 will be the last one in the NHL for Kopitar, by far the best hockey player ever from Slovenia — he has outscored second-place Jan Mursak 1,281 to 4 heading into this season. — ESPN staff
2024-25 rank: 63
Age: 26
The Devils’ captain built another strong case for a Selke Trophy in 2024-25 and finished fourth in the voting, garnering 11 first-place votes. Another standout season could see him land in the finalists’ circle. — ESPN staff
2024-25 rank: 49
Age: 29
The heart and soul of the Red Wings, Larkin turned heads with his excellent two-way play during the 4 Nations Face-Off. Can he lead the Red Wings back to the postseason? — ESPN staff
2024-25 rank: 22
Age: 26
There are sitcoms that have episodes with lesser run time than Heiskanen averages in a game. He’s frequently in the discussion for the league’s best shutdown defenseman, and he’d receive even more acclaim if he had offensive numbers similar to some of his peers. — Clark
2024-25 rank: 32
Age: 29
With Mitch Marner now plying his trade for the Golden Knights, the Leafs will need continued production out of the elite scorers who remain — and Nylander is certainly one of them, with 125 goals in the past three seasons combined. — ESPN staff
2024-25 rank: 34
Age: 31
Forsberg was not immune to whatever plagued the Predators in 2024-25, as his 76 points was a steep decline from 94 the season prior. Will 2025-26 be a rebound for him personally and for his team? — ESPN staff
2024-25 rank: 19
Age: 28
The top center on the Hurricanes, Aho is a point-per-game offensive player whose defensive play fits the Carolina tradition of two-way play. — Wyshynski
2024-25 rank: 62
Age: 40
The greatest goal scorer in NHL history began the 2025-26 campaign with 897 career tallies. How many will he add to his total this season — and will it be his last in the NHL? — ESPN staff
2024-25 rank: 64
Age: 27
One of the snubs left off the United States’ 4 Nations Face-off roster, the 27-year-old Thompson has extra motivation to get off to a fast start to get his name on the list for the Olympics. Getting on a pace for 40-plus goals (as he has done twice in his young career) would be a good start. — ESPN staff
2024-25 rank: 39
Age: 28
Part of the Stars’ “Finnish Mafia,” Hintz’s 200-foot game means that opponents have to construct their game plan around him. — ESPN staff
2024-25 rank: 21
Age: 29
Point had always been a dangerous offensive player, but his goal scoring has exploded over the past three seasons (139 goals) while taking passes from former league MVP Nikita Kucherov on his wing. — Wyshynski
2024-25 rank: 24
Age: 26
Does Elias Pettersson still belong among the top 25 players in the NHL? That’s what the Canucks star is trying to prove in 2025-26 after injuries and locker room drama contributed to the worst offensive season of his career. — Wyshynski
2024-25 rank: 18
Age: 31
Jake Guentzel has earned the chance to skate with the greatest. He was Sidney Crosby’s linemate for eight seasons in Pittsburgh. Last season, his first with the Lightning, he scored a career-high 41 goals on a line with Nikita Kucherov. — Wyshynski
2024-25 rank: 33
Age: 26
The man they call “Otter” has been everything the Stars wanted after they selected him 26th in the 2017 draft, including 151 wins in 253 career games and a 2.54 GAA. — ESPN staff
2024-25 rank: 15
Age: 24
When Jack Hughes is in the lineup, he’s one of the most gifted playmakers in the NHL, averaging 1.13 points per game last season. The trick has been staying in the lineup, as Hughes has played over 70 games only once in the past four seasons with the Devils. — Wyshynski
2024-25 rank: 28
Age: 32
The newest captain of the Rangers was brought in to set a new tone as the Blueshirts hope their playoff absence last season was an aberration. — ESPN staff
2024-25 rank: 7
Age: 33
The Rangers have had their ups and downs. Panarin has been a spark plug in their offense through it all. His speed, vision and playmaking skills are top end, and when he’s consistently contributing, New York can look unstoppable up front. — Shilton
2024-25 rank: NR
Age: 24
The 5-8 scoring winger has earned social media shoutouts from fellow Wisconsin native J.J. Watt and is looking to breach the 40-goal benchmark after notching 37 last season. — ESPN staff
2024-25 rank: 50
Age: 27
The Chesterfield, Missouri, native is one of the NHL’s underappreciated scorers, with 90 points in 81 games last season. That will change if the Mammoth qualify for the postseason this spring. — ESPN staff
2024-25 rank: 74
Age: 28
Perhaps no player boosted his stock more during the 4 Nations Face-Off than Werenski, who is arguably Columbus’ most important player. — ESPN staff
2024-25 rank: NR
Age: 23
A rising star for the Hurricanes and Team Canada — and on “FaceOff: Inside the NHL” — Jarvis will be a critical player in Carolina’s quest for its first Cup since 2006. — ESPN staff
2024-25 rank: 57
Age: 32
The first player drafted by the Jets 2.0 franchise after relocating from Atlanta, Scheifele continues to fill the stat sheet as both scorer and playmaker. — ESPN staff
2024-25 rank: 79
Age: 27
Whether Jack Hughes is in the lineup or not, Bratt continues to drive offense for the Devils, with 171 points in 163 games the past two regular seasons. — ESPN staff
2024-25 rank: 20
Age: 35
What makes him the greatest hockey player Switzerland has ever seen has been the consistency. A threat to reach double figures in goals, Josi is equally effective in the defensive zone, as he has anchored the Preds’ defensive setup for more than a decade. — Clark
2024-25 rank: 85
Age: 29
Kings fans have known of Kempe’s scoring prowess for many seasons — and the ESPN voting panel has finally caught up. As the Kings move on from the Kopitar era beginning next season, Kempe will continue to be a foundational player. — ESPN staff
2024-25 rank: 83
Age: 37
The legends of “Playoff Bob” are many, as the Russian veteran has backstopped the past two Cup champs. But, he continues to be a reliable regular-season netminder as well, with 69 wins and a sub-2.50 GAA the past two seasons combined. — ESPN staff
2024-25 rank: 86
Age: 23
The latest elite Scandinavian import plying his trade for the Red Wings, Raymond will look to eclipse his career-best 80 points from 2024-25. — ESPN staff
2024-25 rank: 53
Age: 23
Faber finished second for the Calder Trophy following the 2023-24 season and has become a blue-line bedrock for his home state Wild. — ESPN staff
2024-25 rank: 71
Age: 23
A near point-per-game player for the past two regular seasons, the 23-year-old native of Germany added five goals in the Sens’ six-game return to the playoffs in 2025. — ESPN staff
2024-25 rank: NR
Age: 19
2024-25 rank: 38
Age: 27
2024-25 rank: NR
Age: 24
2024-25 rank: NR
Age: 35
2024-25 rank: 44
Age: 25
2024-25 rank: NR
Age: 22
2024-25 rank: 45
Age: 20
2024-25 rank: 41
Age: 27
2024-25 rank: 88
Age: 27
2024-25 rank: 37
Age: 25
2024-25 rank: 66
Age: 22
2024-25 rank: 46
Age: 25
2024-25 rank: HM
Age: 26
2024-25 rank: 68
Age: 29
2024-25 rank: 48
Age: 37
2024-25 rank: 60
Age: 30
2024-25 rank: 72
Age: 35
2024-25 rank: 96
Age: 31
2024-25 rank: 95
Age: 26
2024-25 rank: NR
Age: 26
2024-25 rank: 42
Age: 28
2024-25 rank: 5
Age: 27
2024-25 rank: 82
Age: 31
2024-25 rank: NR
Age: 20
2024-25 rank: NR
Age: 31
2024-25 rank: 90
Age: 29
2024-25 rank: NR
Age: 21
2024-25 rank: NR
Age: 27
2024-25 rank: 43
Age: 30
2024-25 rank: 29
Age: 33
2024-25 rank: NR
Age: 24
2024-25 rank: HM
Age: 26
2024-25 rank: 40
Age: 35
2024-25 rank: 59
Age: 24
2024-25 rank: NR
Age: 31
2024-25 rank: NR
Age: 23
2024-25 rank: NR
Age: 20
2024-25 rank: NR
Age: 23
2024-25 rank: NR
Age: 23
2024-25 rank: 84
Age: 31
2024-25 rank: 76
Age: 32
2024-25 rank: 36
Age: 30
2024-25 rank: NR
Age: 22
2024-25 rank: NR
Age: 27
2024-25 rank: 47
Age: 26
2024-25 rank: 93
Age: 27
2024-25 rank: HM
Age: 21
2024-25 rank: NR
Age: 22
2024-25 rank: 78
Age: 33
2024-25 rank: NR
Age: 30
Honorable mentions
Note: Players are listed in alphabetical order.
Mackenzie Blackwood, G, Colorado Avalanche
Leo Carlsson, C, Anaheim Ducks
Thatcher Demko, G, Vancouver Canucks
Nikolaj Ehlers, LW, Carolina Hurricanes
Aaron Ekblad, D, Florida Panthers
Dougie Hamilton, D, New Jersey Devils
Tomas Hertl, C, Vegas Golden Knights
Evgeni Malkin, C, Pittsburgh Penguins
Colton Parayko, D, St. Louis Blues
Dylan Strome, C, Washington Capitals
You may like
Sports
From train rides to Reggie Bush: The best games in the USC-Notre Dame rivalry
Published
5 hours agoon
October 15, 2025By
admin
-
Bill ConnellyOct 15, 2025, 07:00 AM ET
Close- Bill Connelly is a writer for ESPN. He covers college football, soccer and tennis. He has been at ESPN since 2019.
It’s not really an overstatement to say that the Notre Dame-USC rivalry nationalized football. Sure, we already had plenty of heated rivalries when the two schools began playing each other in the mid-1920s, but rivals were neighbors. Harvard vs. Yale. Auburn vs. Georgia. Michigan vs. Ohio State. Missouri vs. Kansas. Notre Dame-USC, on the other hand, required many days on a train at first; it dropped teams off in a completely different part of the world, where they usually had to beat one of the best teams on the planet. It is the Granddaddy of intersectional rivalries (with apologies to Keith Jackson), and it was a massive game right from its origin.
On Saturday evening in South Bend, the Trojans and Fighting Irish will meet for the 96th time. Notre Dame holds a 52-38-5 edge, though the momentum has swayed back and forth pretty severely through the years — Notre Dame went 15-3-1 from 1940-61, USC went 12-2-2 from 1967-82, Notre Dame went 12-0-1 from 1983-95, USC went 11-3 from 1996-2009. The Irish have won nine of the last 12 and are favored to make it 10 in 13 this year.
There is a feeling of foreboding surrounding this game, however, as there aren’t any more Trojans-Irish games scheduled moving forward. The only time these rivals haven’t met since their first game in 1926 was because of either war (1943-45) or a pandemic (2020), but the series is now in danger because of … well … I don’t really know, actually.
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman has certainly said he and the school want the series to continue, and USC head coach Lincoln Riley said, “Do I want to play the game? Hell yeah, I want to play the game,” at Big Ten media days in July before equivocating. “My allegiance is to USC, and I’m going to do everything in my power to help USC.”
That led to a sidebar about the need for conferences to get multiple automatic bids into a newly expanded College Football Playoff, as the Big Ten has been pushing for months. “I think there’s a million reasons why we should … adopt the automatic qualifying in terms of the College Football Playoff,” Riley said. “This might be the most important one, right, is that we give every reason for college football to preserve nonconference games that mean a lot to the history of the game and to the fan bases and the former players and everybody that’s been associated with it.”
Apparently USC and/or the Big Ten think the only way the USC-Notre Dame series can continue is if it has no impact on who makes the CFP? If the series ends, it will end for utterly embarrassing reasons. Just schedule the damn game and keep playing it.
For the last century, this has been one of the sport’s defining rivalries, both because of its impact on college football’s balance of power (especially in the 1960s and 1970s) and the unbelievable moments it has produced.
Here are 10 games that have helped to define an incredible, and ridiculously endangered, rivalry.
1931: USC 16, Notre Dame 14
The 1920s were the decade in which the sport fully infected America. The Big Ten and Ivy League remained awesome at it, and the Rose Bowl only gained in gravitas when the Rose Bowl stadium opened in 1922. But schools from everywhere increasingly wanted a piece of the action. Alabama won the 1926 Rose Bowl, proving that the South could more than hold its own, and with its 1925 Rose Bowl trouncing of Pop Warner’s Stanford, Knute Rockne’s Notre Dame announced itself as a national power.
USC had already won the Rose Bowl in 1923, but the Trojans’ notoriety as an up-and-comer hit hyperdrive when, having attempted to pluck Rockne away from Notre Dame in 1925, they agreed to trade annual cross-country trips with the Irish. Three of the first four games in the series, alternating between enormous crowds in Chicago and Los Angeles, resulted in one-point Notre Dame wins, all with gut-wrenching missed kicks involved. The country was hooked.
Notre Dame welcomed USC to South Bend for the first time in 1931 — and for the first time without Rockne, who had died in a plane crash the previous March. The Irish hadn’t lost a game since a defeat to the Trojans to end the 1928 season, and they took a 14-0 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Gus Shaver scored to make it 14-6 early in the fourth, but the Irish blocked the PAT, and since 2-point conversions weren’t a thing yet, it was still a two-score game. No worries! They scored again to make it 14-13, and in the dying seconds, Orville Mohler completed a couple of huge passes to bring USC into field goal range, and Johnny Baker hit the game winner.
The Trojans arrived a few days later to a mobbed train station with over 100,000 revelers. They were paraded through town. And after blowouts of Washington and Georgia and a Rose Bowl victory over Tulane, they were unbeaten national champions.
1947: No. 1 Notre Dame 38, No. 3 USC 7
USC enjoyed back-to-back top-10 finishes in 1938-39, but when legendary coach Howard Jones died in 1941, the Trojans grew inconsistent. Notre Dame, however, thrived through and after the war years and won four national titles between 1943-49.
In 1947, USC started the season 7-0-1 and rose to third in the country. Unfortunately, Notre Dame fielded the best team ever, according to legendary opinion-haver Beano Cook. USC made the Irish work for this one, but behind the string-pulling work of Heisman-winner Johnny Lujack and the devastating rushing of Emil Sitko and Bob Livingstone, Notre Dame eventually had too much.
The Irish led only 10-7 at halftime, but Sitko’s 76-yard touchdown made it 17-7, and after an interception and other stellar defensive plays from Lujack, Livingstone raced 92 yards to make it 31-7 and send the backups in. Notre Dame won the AP national title, though somewhat ironically, Michigan also claimed a share after walloping USC 49-0 in the Rose Bowl. It would have been an all-timer had the Irish and Wolverines played that season, but by this point Michigan and quite a few other Big Ten programs were refusing to schedule Notre Dame.
1964: USC 20, No. 1 Notre Dame 17
The 1950s were a tough decade for a number of blue-blood programs, and neither of these teams escaped down years. USC had as many one-win seasons as top-10 finishes (one each) between 1948-61, and Notre Dame had more two-win seasons (two) than top-10s (one) between 1956-63. But they found the men who would bring them back to prominence when USC hired John McKay in 1960, and Notre Dame landed Ara Parseghian in 1964.
USC rolled to an 11-0 national title in 1962 but was still attempting to establish consistency in 1964; the Irish, meanwhile, surged from 2-7 to No. 1 in the country in Parseghian’s very first season. He had them 9-0 and one win from a national title when they headed to L.A. In front of 83,840 at the Coliseum, the Irish, two-touchdown favorites, raced to a 17-0 halftime lead. But according to Sports Illustrated, McKay was calm, telling his team, “Our game plan is working. Keep doing your stuff and we’ll get some points […] They’ve won nine games without any duress. If we can make this thing close, they might not know how to react.” Behind future Heisman winner Mike Garrett and quarterback Craig Fertig, the Trojans proved McKay correct. They scored twice to make it close, and as the final minute approached, they ran 84-Z, a shot over the middle from Fertig to Rod Sherman for the game winner.
The Irish would get revenge soon enough, humiliating USC 51-0 in Los Angeles two years later and winning their first national title under Parseghian. But the Trojans still made them wait a while.
1968: No. 2 USC 21, No. 9 Notre Dame 21
These programs have met as top-10 teams 18 times, and half of those games happened between 1965-79. While this rivalry has swayed back and forth with one team rising and the other falling, this period saw both thriving rather consistently.
In 1967, top-ranked USC upended the fifth-ranked Irish 24-7 in South Bend on the way to McKay’s second title, and behind soon-to-be Heisman winner O.J. Simpson, the Trojans won their first nine games of 1968 as well. But after a couple of early losses, Notre Dame came to the Coliseum having won its last three games by a combined 135-27. The Irish gave the Trojans and their fans a surprise.
As Dan Jenkins wrote for Sports Illustrated, “The game turned out to be nothing like the 82,659 in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum or the hordes on television had anticipated. They had expected to see quite a contest, of course, with O.J. Simpson getting his usual 183.7 yards and scoring his usual two or three touchdowns and with the Trojans maybe winning by a point and becoming No. 1 again. What they saw instead was a splendidly prepared Notre Dame team that ate up Simpson on defense and kept the ball for hours on offense.”
Sophomore quarterback Joe Theismann overcame an early pick-six to throw for 152 yards, catch a touchdown pass and lead Notre Dame to a 21-7 halftime lead. USC again came back, with a short Simpson TD and a long Sam Dickerson score tying the game with 10 minutes left, but the Irish created the late chances. But Scott Hempel missed a 47-yard field goal, then missed a 33-yarder with 29 seconds remaining. Evidently, both of these rivals enjoyed this experience so much that they played to a tie the next year, too, 14-14.
1974: No. 6 USC 55, No. 5 Notre Dame 24
Ah, The Comeback.
By the 1970s, these programs were humming. USC won the 1972 title thanks in part to a 45-23 thumping of Notre Dame that featured six Anthony Davis touchdowns, two on kick returns. In 1973, it was Notre Dame’s turn, taking down the defending champs 23-14 and eventually stunning top-ranked Alabama in the Sugar Bowl to win the title. In 1974, in the last McKay-Parseghian battle, USC flipped the game like few have ever been flipped. And Davis was behind it once again.
Notre Dame and quarterback Tom Clements stunned the crowd of 83,552 early, gaining 257 first-half yards and bolting to a 24-0 lead. But Davis scored on a short touchdown pass from Pat Haden to make it 24-6 before the break, then took the opening kick of the second half 100 yards for another score. USC forced a punt, and Davis scored again. Then Notre Dame fumbled, and Davis scored again and added the 2-point conversion.
Suddenly it was 27-24, and USC kept landing blows. Haden threw touchdown passes to J.K. McKay (twice) and Shelton Diggs, then Charles Phillips picked off his third pass of the day and took it to the house. In just under 17 minutes USC had gone on a 55-0 run. 55-0! The Trojans rode the momentum to a Rose Bowl upset of Ohio State, too.
1977: No. 11 Notre Dame 49, No. 5 USC 19
Dan Devine’s tenure as Notre Dame head coach began with two three-loss seasons and an early-1977 loss to unranked Ole Miss. Devine was awfully close to hot-seat status. The Irish had won three in a row when USC came to town, but they’d beaten the Trojans just once in their last 10 tries, and they just weren’t looking the part. So they changed their look.
The Irish came out in all green for the first time ever — a hideous green, if we’re being honest (it’s important to tell the truth) — and entered the field behind a giant Trojan horse. USC never stood a chance. A rickety Notre Dame offense found its stride, with quarterback Joe Montana completing eight passes to big Ken McAfee and scoring on a pair of quarterback sneaks, and while USC’s Charles White rushed for 135 yards, the Trojans consistently self-destructed in Irish territory. Even with four lost fumbles, Notre Dame won by 30.
The magic of the green jerseys continued even when they moved back to the regular kits. They won their last seven games by an average of 45-11, including a 38-10 stomping of top-ranked Texas in the Cotton Bowl, and Devine, Montana & Co. were surprise national champs.
1988: No. 1 Notre Dame 27, No. 2 USC 10
Top to bottom, the 1980s weren’t great for either program. Head coach John Robinson followed McKay to the NFL, and USC stumbled under Ted Tollner, while Notre Dame made either one of the boldest or most arrogant and reckless hires of all time following Dan Devine’s retirement: High school coaching legend Gerry Faust came aboard and went just 30-26-1 over five years.
USC rebounded under Larry Smith, however, and Notre Dame surged under Lou Holtz. And in 1988, the series saw a glorious first: a No. 1 vs. No. 2 battle to end the regular season.
Notre Dame had already beaten top-ranked Miami in a game worthy of 30 for 30 status, and even without a couple of key players — running back Tony Brooks and receiver Ricky Watters were both suspended — it was clear pretty quickly that the Fighting Irish were the superior squad. Quarterback Tony Rice raced 65 yards for an early touchdown, Stan Smagala scored on a 64-yard pick six, Mark Green scored two short touchdowns, and the Irish spent most of the second half killing time. They had only eight first downs for the game, but it was more than enough to secure a sixth straight win in the series. And about five weeks later, they thumped WVU in the Fiesta Bowl to win their first national title in 11 years (and last to date).
1995: No. 17 Notre Dame 38, No. 5 USC 10
While Notre Dame remained elite for a few years into the 1990s, USC lost its edge a bit. Between 1991-2001, the Trojans only made one top-five appearance, and it ended unceremoniously in South Bend.
Notre Dame came into this one having gone just 6-5-1 the year before and suffered a pair of early-1995 losses, including an all-time shocker against Rose Bowl-bound Northwestern. Holtz had recently undergone spinal surgery and coached from the press box, and despite a 12-year unbeaten streak in the rivalry, the Irish were underdogs against the No. 5 Trojans. But USC played like a desperate team that hasn’t beaten its rival in 12 years.
USC’s Keyshawn Johnson caught an early touchdown pass to give the Trojans a 7-6 lead — he had six catches for 122 yards on the day — but four turnovers, countless red zone miscues, a 10-for-11 start for the Irish on third down and two Marc Edwards touchdowns gave Notre Dame a 21-7 halftime lead. It was only 21-10 heading into the fourth quarter, but Kory Minor sacked USC’s Kyle Wachholtz for a safety, Ron Powlus found Pete Chryplewicz for a short score, and a third Edwards touchdown put the game away. The Irish only outgained the Trojans by a yard (380-379), but they gained all of the important yards.
USC would finally take back control of the rivalry the next year, winning three in a row against first Holtz and then Bob Davie.
2005: No. 1 USC 35, No. 9 Notre Dame 31
I use this analogy far too frequently, but USC is, for all intents and purposes, a high-performance muscle car: It’s too much for most drivers to handle, but with the right hands on the steering wheel, it can destroy everything in its path. USC struggled to find that pair of hands for quite a while. Tollner, Smith, Robinson (in a second tenure) and Paul Hackett combined for zero top-five finishes and only four nine-win seasons in 18 years, and by 2001, when athletic director Mike Garrett was replacing Hackett after a moribund three-year tenure, he struggled to find any takers.
Garrett went after everyone from Oregon’s Mike Bellotti to Wisconsin’s Barry Alvarez and came up empty. He finally grabbed former New England Patriots coach Pete Carroll, whose résumé was far too similar to Hackett’s for most fans’ liking. He hadn’t coached in college for nearly 20 years either, but he should have — as it turned out, almost no one in the 21st century was a more natural or successful recruiter. Carroll stockpiled both blue-chippers and bright young assistants like Steve Sarkisian and Lane Kiffin, and after starting his tenure just 9-8, his Trojans erupted, winning 45 of 46 games, including a run of 34 in a row. They shared the national title with Nick Saban’s LSU in 2003 and won it outright in 2004.
That winning streak probably should have ended in South Bend.
While USC was surging, Notre Dame was fading into irrelevance. In eight years under Davie and Tyrone Willingham, the Irish alternated between sub-.500 disappointments and seasons just successful enough to end with bowl blowouts — 27-9 to pre-Saban LSU in the Independence Bowl, 28-6 to NC State in the Gator Bowl, 41-9 to Erickson’s Oregon State in the Fiesta Bowl. But it looked like Notre Dame had found its own Carroll in former New England offensive coordinator Charlie Weis. His Irish beat three ranked opponents in his first five games, including No. 3 Michigan on the road, and they were back in the top 10 when USC came to visit. ESPN’s “College GameDay” was in town, and Notre Dame’s Friday night pep rally was broadcast on ESPNews. Notre Dame even busted out the green jerseys. They were pulling out all the stops.
Despite a brilliant 195 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns from soon-to-be Heisman winner Reggie Bush, USC simply couldn’t shake the Irish. A 32-yard Brady Quinn-to-Jeff Samardzija touchdown pass and a 60-yard Tom Zbikowski punt return gave Notre Dame a 21-14 halftime lead, and Quinn’s 5-yard touchdown gave the Irish a 31-28 lead with just 2:04 left. But you probably already know what happened next.
Bush shoved Matt Leinart into the end zone on a make-or-break play with four seconds left — that would be legal with today’s rules, but it wasn’t in 2005 — and somehow USC survived.
2018: No. 3 Notre Dame 24, USC 17
As great and important as this rivalry has been for college football, it’s found a rut in recent years. It happens. Though the Weis years flamed out spectacularly, Notre Dame has remained relevant, with four top-five finishes and two national title game appearances under Brian Kelly and Marcus Freeman. But USC’s Carroll era ended with NCAA sanctions, and under four different coaches — Kiffin, Sarkisian, Clay Helton and now Lincoln Riley — the Trojans have enjoyed just one top-five finish since 2008. Notre Dame has won nine of the past 12 games in the series, and only three of those 12 games were decided by one score.
The 2018 game was pretty fun, at least. USC, in the middle of a dismal 8-11 stretch following a hot start under Helton, was attempting to both salvage bowl eligibility and wreck Notre Dame’s perfect record and playoff résumé right before CFP selection. The Trojans took a 10-7 lead into halftime thanks to an early Vavae Malepeai touchdown, but a 52-yard run by Dexter Williams and a 52-yard Ian Book-to-Tony Jones Jr. strike put the Irish up 14. JT Daniels found Tyler Vaughns for a USC touchdown in the final minute, but Notre Dame recovered the ensuing onside kick, and that was that.
We’re due a USC-Notre Dame classic on Saturday. It’s been a little while, and unless sanity prevails, it might be a long while until we get another chance.
Sports
The legacy and legality of the Bush Push 20 years later
Published
5 hours agoon
October 15, 2025By
admin
-
Kyle BonaguraOct 15, 2025, 07:00 AM ET
Close- Covers college football.
- Joined ESPN in 2014.
- Attended Washington State University.
ON THE SIDELINE at Notre Dame Stadium, USC coach Pete Carroll frantically waved for quarterback Matt Leinart to spike the ball. The Trojans trailed 31-28, inches from the goal line with seven seconds left.
“[Leinart] was to look back at [offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian] on the sidelines, and if we wanted to sneak it, we could sneak it,” Carroll said this week. “And he had to point at him. So, we tell him to sneak it. So, he points at the line, and he looks at the line of scrimmage, and he goes, ‘There’s no way, they’re all jammed up.’ And he looks back at us, and Reggie [Bush] yelled something at him, ‘Go for it. Go for it.'”
Moments earlier, Leinart had fumbled out of bounds inside the 1. The clock mistakenly ran out, and NBC’s Tom Hammond declared, “Notre Dame has won,” as Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis raised his arms and fans stormed the field.
When play resumed, the Trojans would have one last chance to extend their winning streak to 28 games.
Leinart sneaked left from under center, but he was bounced backward into a half spin and into the path of Bush, who famously shoved him across for the winning score.
“It was about as sweet a finish as you could have in a great situation to keep the streak alive and all that, too,” Carroll said.
Twenty years ago, the “Bush Push” would become one of the most unforgettable moments in college football history — and one of its most controversial. In the box score, it was the touchdown that preserved USC’s dynasty and allowed for the Rose Bowl matchup with Texas that became an all-time classic. In the rulebook, though, it was illegal.
Except, it was almost never called. In fact, the rule had become a running joke among officials.
“You were teased if you made the call,” said former NCAA official and current ESPN analyst Matt Austin. “It was such a rare occurrence.”
In the years that followed, an obscure rule became a flashpoint. It was debated, tweaked and, eventually, led to strategic evolution.
THE “HELPING THE Ball Carrier” rule had been part of the NCAA rulebook for decades. Its language was virtually identical in every edition dating back to at least 1950.
“No [teammate] shall grasp, pull, push, lift or charge into him to assist him in forward progress.”
The idea is believed to have originated as a way to differentiate football from rugby. Teammates could block defenders, but once the ball carrier was engaged, the play was meant to be his alone. Anything more — a shove, a tug, a lift — was considered an unfair advantage.
It was almost impossible to enforce in short-yardage piles, where pushes and blocks blur together, especially near the goal line.
Steve Shaw remembers that problem well. Now the NCAA’s national coordinator of officials, Shaw spent more than two decades on the field, and he has seen just about everything. But in the 2000 season, his crew made a rare, yet memorable call.
It happened during a Middle Tennessee–UConn game. Late in the contest, a Middle Tennessee lineman reached out and grabbed his running back, helping drag him toward the end zone. Shaw’s line judge, Mike Taylor, threw the flag.
“At the end of the year, there’s a report listing every penalty called nationally,” Shaw said. “Under aiding the runner, there was one — and it was ours. We gave him a hard time for calling it, but it was the right call.”
The rule technically existed, but almost nobody enforced it. And when it was flagged, it was usually because a player was being pulled, not pushed.
So when Bush shoved Leinart across the goal line in 2005, the officials did what most would have done: They kept the flag in their pockets. In fact, after Leinart’s touchdown, the Pac-10 officiating crew huddled up to discuss the play only to emerge with an unsportsmanlike contact penalty against the Trojans for their celebration after. There was no mention of the legality of the push on the broadcast, either.
It wasn’t until the next day when the conversation shifted from the game’s remarkable ending into a nationwide rules debate that is still built into the game’s lore.
Pac-10 commissioner Tom Hansen admitted to the Los Angeles Times that his conference’s officiating crew could have called a penalty, but made essentially the same point Shaw did two decades later.
“I just don’t think they ever call it,” Hansen said, adding it would have been different if it was a pull, not a push.
This is where the consensus seemed to land. The play looked like part of the normal chaos that happens at the goal line. By the letter of the law, Bush committed a foul. But by the spirit of the game, he just did what any teammate would do.
RULE CHANGES IN college football often move slowly. Proposals wind through the NCAA Rules Committee, a rotating group of coaches, officials and administrators who meet each offseason.
Most suggestions come after issues are identified over the course of a season. If the committee deems something urgent, it can move quickly. If not, it can linger in discussion until a consensus forms.
Sometimes, a single play can trigger an immediate rewrite. When Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett faked a slide in the 2021 ACC championship game — beginning to give himself up before resuming his run for a long touchdown — the reaction was instant. Within days, the NCAA issued a memo closing the loophole. The same thing happened last year when Oregon‘s Dan Lanning found a way to shave off game time by using a 12th man on defense.
The Bush Push didn’t work that way.
Despite the fierce public debate — and the way it was officiated — the rule remained unchanged in the years that followed.
It wasn’t until 2013, when the rules committee formally decided to adjust the official wording.
“The rules committee had a good debate about this and they watched much video, including the Bush Push play,” Shaw said. “Overall, they came to the conclusion that it was very difficult to determine when a push was truly a foul.
“There were few guidelines that could be given to make this a consistent call. Examples were pushing a rugby scrum pile vs. pushing the runner specifically, and they felt it was nearly impossible to distinguish between pushing a runner, leaning on a runner, pushing the pile or leaning on the pile. They felt removing the ‘push’ component would be the best course of action.”
When the NCAA released its updated rulebook for the 2013 season, the word “push” was simply deleted, bringing it in line with a similar rule change the NFL made in 2005.
Without realizing it, the committee paved the way for innovation in the sport.
Right away, coaches tried to use the subtle change to their advantage, including former Kansas State coach Bill Snyder, whose Wildcats started running what is now commonly referred to as the tush push later that year.
“It was just a natural thing to do,” Snyder told ESPN’s Kalyn Kahler earlier this year. “We needed to create a way in which we could take the shortest distance to get the short distance we needed to go and not get held up, because everybody put all the people over there, so we wanted to compete against no matter how many people you put there.
“We wanted to be strong enough not to get held up at the line of scrimmage. And we would bring one or two, or on occasion, three backs up right off of the hip of the center, and on the snap of the ball, we would push the center or push the back of the quarterback.”
That small tactical adjustment eventually made its way to the pros. Nearly a decade later, the Philadelphia Eagles adopted a version of the play built around quarterback Jalen Hurts, perfecting it into an almost unstoppable short-yardage weapon. Which, once again, led to a nationwide debate about whether pushing — once outlawed, then ignored and finally embraced — belonged in football at all.
In May, a proposal from the Green Bay Packers to ban the tush push came up two votes shy of the 24 it needed to pass.
At the NCAA level, the play drew some discussion over the offseason, too, but those conversations were more centered on potential injury concerns.
“The NCAA rules committee has looked at it and really up to now have not seen it become an injury, a player safety issue,” Shaw said. “So it really becomes a strategic part. Is that something strategically we want in the game? And so far there’s not been a big driver to try to put together a reason to eliminate it from our game.”
Over the past four seasons, the current rule has been enforced only six times, according to Shaw. Three times in 2022, and just once in 2021, 2023 and 2024.
AS USC RETURNS to Notre Dame this weekend for a top-20 matchup, the Bush Push helps define one of the sport’s most storied rivalries.
Carroll, now the Las Vegas Raiders coach, has very specific memories of that game in South Bend: the high grass, the green Notre Dame jerseys, the legends in the crowd.
“The stories I heard are that they sold out the night before the game at their rally that they had,” Carroll said. “And they brought Joe Montana back, and Rudy [Ruettiger] came back to speak to the crowd and a guy dressed up as Jesus showed up trying to bring home the power. … It was just an incredible setting for college football.”
The push that once went uncalled now defines the rule. Twenty years later, it’s still moving the game forward.
ESPN NFL reporter Ryan McFadden contributed to this story.
Sports
Alabama RB Miller questionable for Vols game
Published
5 hours agoon
October 15, 2025By
admin
-
Andrea AdelsonOct 15, 2025, 01:12 PM ET
Close- ACC reporter.
- Joined ESPN.com in 2010.
- Graduate of the University of Florida.
Alabama running back Jam Miller is questionable to play Saturday against Tennessee after sustaining a concussion last week, coach Kalen DeBoer said Wednesday.
Miller was hurt late in a 27-24 win over Missouri this past Saturday and entered concussion protocol. During the SEC teleconference, DeBoer said Miller would be listed as questionable when the availability reports are released later this week.
The senior has played in only three games this season for the Crimson Tide. Miller broke his collarbone during fall camp and missed the first three games of the season before returning to play Georgia. He has 58 carries for 267 yards and a touchdown.
DeBoer also said freshman receiver Derek Meadows will be out Saturday because of a concussion.
Trending
-
Sports3 years ago
‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports2 years ago
Story injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years ago
Game 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years ago
Button battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Sports3 years ago
MLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years ago
Japan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment1 year ago
Here are the best electric bikes you can buy at every price level in October 2024