Notre Dame’s 2026 college football schedule has been called many thing over the last eight months, but “tough” or anywhere near the word “hard” was certainly not among them. Still, some have mentioned that this Irish schedule could look a lot trickier as the season progresses. While they may eventually be true, it may not matter all that much (except for message boards and social media).
Notre Dame took a minute or two to get going against the Wisconsin Badgers in the season opener, but eventually
the Irish whooped them 42-13. Notre Dame welcomed the Rice Owls to South Bend for the home opener, and sent them back to Texas with a 52-0 loss. Although the Irish were big favorites against Michigan State, they got their best shot — and still beat the Spartans 27-10. The Irish were once again massive favorites over a Big 10 team, and they more than covered against Purdue with a 49-10 win that was never that close. Notre Dame was better than a three touchdown favorite against North Carolina, but ran into a bit of a clunker (and rain) and beat the Tar Heels 37-26. After two weeks on the road, Notre Dame returned to South Bend and the homecooking did them well as the Irish destroyed the Stanford Cardinal 58-7. Disaster hit the Irish against BYU in a 28-24 loss, and no matter what part of the game you want to complain about (because there was quite a bit) the simplest thing to say is that Notre Dame flat out got outplayed by the Cougars. Notre Dame sat at home this week with a bye, and will now travel to New England to take on the Navy Midshipmen.
Notre Dame is still likely to be favored in every game this season, and they are still a popular pick to win the national championship. Their strength of schedule probably isn’t going to matter much, but let’s keep track of it anyway.
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