Notre Dame’s 2026 college schedule has been said a lot over the last eight months, but “tough” or anywhere near the word “difficult” certainly wasn’t among them. However, some have mentioned that this Irish card could look a lot more misleading as time goes on. When they are ultimately true, it doesn’t matter much (except for social media and blogs).
Notre Dame went a minute or two on the Wisconsin Badgers in the opening period, but in the end it was the Irish who outscored them 42-13. Notre Dame welcomed the Owls to South Bend for their home opener, sending them back with a 52-0 loss at Texas. Although the Irish were heavily favored against Michigan State, they gave themselves their best shot — and still beat the Spartans 27-10. The Irish were once again huge favorites over the top 10 team, and they more than covered against Purdue with a 49-10 score that was never close. Notre Dame was better than a three-touchdown favorite against North Carolina, but ran into a partial shutout (and rain) and beat the Tar Heels 37-26. After two weeks on the road, Notre Dame returned to South Bend, and did well in the home kitchen as the Irish destroyed the Stanford Cardinal 58-7. The Irish suffered a blow against BYU in a 28-24 loss, and no matter what part of the game you want to complain about (because there wasn’t much of it) the simplest thing to say is that Notre Dame was completely outplayed by the Cougars. Against Navy, Notre Dame took a slower route than we would have liked, but in the end the Irish won the game 35-13 and completely closed out the middle of the 2nd half. Next up for the Irish is the No.1 Miami Hurricanes first matchup of the season in the South Bend.
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Notre Dame is still likely to be favored in every game this season, and is still the popular power to win the national championship. The strength of the card probably doesn’t matter much, but they keep track of it anyway.
OPPOSE | RESULT | RECORD | AP TOP 25 |
Wisconsin Badgers | 5 vs. Iowa 30-0 | 5-3 | – |
Night rice | I command | 1-7 | – |
Michigan state Spartans | I command | 2-6 | – |
Purdue Boilermakers | 5 vs. Penn State 31-17 | 3-4 | – |
North Carolina Tar Heels | L vs. Miami 38-35 | 4-4 | – |
Stanford Cardinal | L vs. Louisville 52-24 | 4-5 | – |
BYU Cougars | W vs Arizona State 27-20 | 7-1 | 7 |
Class of Midshipmen | L vs | 2-6 | – |
Miami Hurricanes | W vs. North Carolina 38-35 | 8-0 | 1 |
Boston College Eagles | L vs Duke 47-2 | 4-4 | – |
SMU Mustangs | L. Syracuse 30-27 vs | 6-2 | suffrage |
Syracuse Golden | W vs SMU 30-27 | 4-4 | – |
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