Notre Dame entered the 2026 season among the preseason favorites to contend for a national title, but there was always a level of skepticism. Especially surrounding how soft the Fighting Irish's schedule was perceived to be. Four weeks into the season, and the boys from South Bend are undefeated and No. 3 in the nation, as expected, but their remaining contests contain few opportunities to notch marquee victories.
Over the next nine weeks, Notre Dame will play eight games, but only three of them (for now) will be against ranked opponents. Oct. 17 will be the first of those as the Irish travel to Provo, Utah, for a must-watch battle against No. 10 BYU. Two weeks later, they'll get an opportunity for revenge at home against No. 4 Miami, followed by a bout with another ACC foe in No. 21 SMU two weeks after that. The other five contests are against unranked teams, most of which will be double-digit underdogs and presumed unimpressive victories.
It could all accumulate as an unintended consequence of the school's independence and perhaps unfairly weigh down its resume in the eyes of the College Football Playoff selection committee. As of now, the Irish are ranked 55th in strength of remaining schedule compared to 36th for Miami, 40th for BYU and 57th for SMU. After a controversial snub last year, suffering back-to-back exclusions would create an unnecessary narrative around head coach Marcus Freeman's impressive tenure to date.
Notre Dame’s remaining ranked games carry extra playoff weight
Date | Opponent |
|---|---|
Oct. 3 | at North Carolina |
Oct. 10 | vs. Stanford |
Oct. 17 | at No. 10 BYU |
Oct. 31 | at Navy |
Nov. 7 | vs. No. 4 Miami |
Nov. 14 | vs. Boston College |
Nov. 21 | vs. No. 21 SMU |
Nov. 28 | at Syracuse |
The Irish have a very strong roster. Quarterback CJ Carr should be in the Heisman Trophy conversation, and the defense is practically a brick wall, holding opponents under 14 points in all four contests this season. Yet, there are plenty of fans and pundits who won't take Notre Dame seriously unless it goes 12-0.
That also means a loss to one of the remaining non-ranked teams on its schedule could be a season-imploding stumble. Falling to one of those three ranked opponents shouldn't damage the Irish's reputation one bit, but as the CFP committee has demonstrated before, independents can be penalized for not having a data point related to conference strength.
It's not Notre Dame's fault that it created its schedule years ago and the circumstances of its opponents' competitiveness are now dire. This is just a perfectly bad storm of Wisconsin being mediocre, Michigan State and Purdue being Big Ten basement dwellers, and mid-majors like Rice and Navy being non-factors beyond traditional rivals.
To make things worse, USC embarrassingly pulled out of its annual meeting with the Irish after negotiations had stalled in the offseason (translated: the Trojans were tired of losing). The historic rivalry will return in 2030 but Notre Dame's schedule quality is now hindered for four seasons. These are all factors out of the school's control and yet the nature of this sport is Notre Dame will just have to deal with it and take care of business.
The old adage goes, "leave no doubt." That's exactly what Freeman should be telling his guys going forward this season because just one misstep could rob the team of an opportunity to win a championship. Fans and pundits' words about the program's soft schedule can hang in the air but hardware is forever. Just keep winning, that's something nobody can take away from them.
Add us as a preferred source on Google