Why Notre Dame’s Schedule Is Flawed in the College Football Playoff Debate Ahead of BYU Showdown

College football schedules have been a topic of discussion for at least 25 years. What began as an attempt to let the big teams lift smaller ones has become a game within the game. Now, teams are more aimed at manipulating postseason positioning than doing the small schools ‘a solid’.

The obvious solution to juggernauts playing teams that have almost no chance of winning is a conversation college football is not ready for. Ohio State played Kent State. Texas played Texas State. Georgia played Tennessee State.

Not every game on a team’s schedule is going to be a competitive one. For decades, fans had to weigh different games based on the opponent they faced. Very little can be deduced from a top 10 Power Four team beating up smaller programs. How does the perception change when one team has half a schedule worth of non-competitive games?

Notre Dame is still independent, and if they had their way, that status would never change. Half of the Irish schedule in 2026 is filled with subpar teams like Wisconsin, Rice, Stanford, Navy, Boston College and Syracuse. All games that should have Notre Dame favored by a basketball score.

The idea seems self-explanatory. Notre Dame doesn’t want to schedule many quality matchups in favor of leaning on math. Win a couple of important games and beat up teams that they should not even share a field with, and be there for a possible Playoff run. That is not a hot take. That's the reaction coming out of South Bend when Alabama made the playoff with two losses over Notre Dame, who only had one.

ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit joined Get Up and reignited the schedule debate. “Notre Dame plays two games where they’re going to be challenged,” Herbstreit said. “This one (BYU) where they’re favored and Miami at home. That cannot continue. That’s an embarrassment and completely unfair.”

Players and coaches will default to ‘you can only play the team in front of you’. Take care of business and everything will work out. Previously, utilizing an only slightly less easy schedule, Notre Dame finished 11-1 and did not make the Playoff. The argument was, if playing good teams and going 11-1 doesn’t earn you a spot in the Playoff, then we’ll just stop scheduling good teams. Then Notre Dame beats a ton of teams by a lot, it makes their candidacy stronger. Based on factors like margin of victory and other tie-breaker metrics.

Some factors can be good for a program but bad for the game. There’s very little to be gained by a projected top 10 Notre Dame team playing Rice, Stanford, Navy or Boston College. Navy is the only exception and that series has real history that goes beyond the gridiron. This whole argument comes back to Notre Dame’s independent status.

Notre Dame doesn’t want to join a conference. If they did so, they would be required to play a conference schedule. Two or three non-conference games, but then about nine conference games. If Notre Dame went to a conference, most of their schedule could be ‘challenging’ depending on the conference. If they don’t attend a conference, they never have to conform to those requirements.

Teams have lost the plot when there are only two games that present any sort of challenge. While it might be beneficial to the team in the short term, the negatives far outweigh the positives. Leaving the AP and eventually the Playoff committee with a difficult task of trying to quantify what Notre Dame beating Rice 52-0 or Stanford 58-7 means in the larger context.

BYU will be Notre Dame's toughest opponent so far this season. Kickoff in Provo will be at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC.