Notre Dame has finalized its 2026 football schedule by making the Stanford game official and setting dates for all 12 games. With the schedule now set let's take a look at the series history and other interesting notes about the opponents and teams on the Irish schedule.
SERIES HISTORY
Wisconsin - Notre Dame leads 9-6-2
Rice - Notre Dame leads 5-0
Michigan State - Notre Dame leads 49-29-1
Purdue - Notre Dame leads 60-26-2
North Carolina - Notre Dame leads 21-2
Stanford - Notre Dame leads 25-14
BYU - Notre Dame leads 7-2
Navy - Notre Dame leads 84-13-1
Miami - Notre Dame leads 18-9-1
Boston College - Notre Dame lead 19-9
SMU - Notre Dame leads 10-3
Syracuse - Notre Dame leads 9-3
LAST MEETING - CURRENT STREAK
vs. Wisconsin - 2021 (Sep. 25) - Notre Dame won 41-13
- Notre Dame has won 2 straight
- First meeting was Nov. 10, 1900
vs. Rice - 2014 (Aug. 30) - Notre Dame won 48-17
- Notre Dame has won all 5 meetings
- First meeting was Nov. 27, 1915
vs. Michigan State - 2017 (Sep. 23) - Notre Dame won 38-18
- Notre Dame won the most recent meeting and four of the last five
- First meeting was Nov. 25, 1897
vs. Purdue - 2025 (Sep. 20) - Notre Dame won 56-30
- Notre Dame has won 10 straight
- First meeting was Nov. 14, 1896
vs. North Carolina - 2022 (Sep. 24) - Notre Dame won 45-32
- Notre Dame has won 5 straight
- First meeting was Nov. 12, 1949
vs. Stanford - 2025 (Nov. 29) - Notre Dame won 49-20
- Notre Dame has won 3 straight
- First meeting was Jan. 1, 1925
vs. BYU - 2022 (Oct. 8) - Notre Dame won 28-20
- Notre Dame has won 4 straight
- First meeting was Oct. 24, 1992
vs. Navy - 2025 (Nov. 8) - Notre Dame won 49-10
- Notre Dame has won 8 straight
- First meeting was Oct. 15, 1927
vs. Miami - 2025 (Aug. 31) - Miami won 27-24
- Miami has won 2 straight
- Last Notre Dame win was 30-27 on Oct. 29, 2016
- Notre Dame won previous 5 meetings
- First meeting was Oct. 7, 1955
vs. Boston College - 2025 (Nov. 1) - Notre Dame won 25-10
- Notre Dame has won 10 straight
- First meeting was Sep. 15, 1975
vs. SMU - 1989 (Nov. 11) - Notre Dame won 59-6
- Notre Dame has won 2 straight
- First meeting was Oct. 4, 1930
vs. Syracuse - 2025 (Nov. 22) - Notre Dame won 70-7
- Notre Dame has won 6 straight
- First meeting was Nov. 26, 1914
NOTES
*** The Irish will kick the 2026 season off at historic Lambeau Field, the home of the NFL's Green Bay Packers. Notre Dame has never played at Lambeau Field, which was named after Notre Dame alum and former Irish player Curly Lambeau, who was the founder of the Packers.
*** Notre Dame's season-opening matchup against Wisconsin will be a Shamrock Series matchup. It's the 13th Shamrock Series game for Notre Dame, with the most recent being a 49-14 win over Army inside Yankee Stadium (Nov. 23, 2024). Notre Dame is 12-0 all-time in Shamrock Series games.
*** Notre Dame has won the most recent game against 11 of its 12 opponents in 2026. The Irish averaged 46.2 points and allowed just 16.6 points in those 11 games. The 28-20 win over BYU was the only victory that wasn't a double digit win. Miami's 27-24 win over Notre Dame in 2025 is the exception.
*** Head coach Marcus Freeman was the defensive coordinator for Luke Fickell at Cincinnati from 2017-20. Fickell is now the head coach at Wisconsin. Freeman was the defensive coordinator at Purdue in 2016 and served as the linebackers coach from 2013-15.
*** Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock worked under Fickell at Cincinnati from 2017-2021, quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli worked under at Cincinnati Fickell from 2017-22, wide receivers coach Mike Brown worked under Fickell at Cincinnati from 2019-22 and again at Wisconsin in 2023. Guidugli was briefly with Fickell at Wisconsin in 2023 before leaving to come to Notre Dame to work with Freeman. Linebackers coach Al Washington worked under Fickell in 2017 and secondary coach Mike Mickens worked under Fickell at Cincinnati from 2018-19.
*** Washington played at Boston College from 2002-05 and coached at his alma mater from 2012 to 2016. He coached running backs, special teams and the defensive line.
*** Offensive line coach Joe Rudolph has deep ties to Wisconsin. He played offensive line for the Badgers from 1991-94. He coached the offensive line and was the offensive coordinator at his alma mater from 2015-21. Rudolph also served as the tight ends coach at Wisconsin from 2008-11.
*** Defensive coordinator Chris Ash held the same position at Wisconsin from 2011-12. He coached the Badger secondary in 2010. Defensive line coach Charlie Partridge was the defensive coach for Ash in 2011-12, and served as the team's defensive line coach and special teams coordinator from 2008-11.
*** Special teams coordinator Marty Biagi held the same role at Purdue from 2020-21.
OPPOSING COACHES vs NOTRE DAME
*** Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell led Cincinnati to a win 24-13 win over Notre Dame on October 2, 2021. The Bearcats were ranked No. 7 while Notre Dame was ranked No. 9. It was one of many Top 10 losses that then head coach Brian Kelly suffered during his tenure leader the Fighting Irish. Fickell played for Ohio State from 1993-96, and was part of the Buckeye teams that beat Notre Dame in 1995 (45-26) and 1996 (29-16). Fickell was co-defensive coordinator for the Buckeyes in their 2005 Fiesta Bowl win over Notre Dame (34-20). Fickell served as co-defensive coordinator with current Irish DC Chris Ash on the 2014 Ohio State team that won a national championship.
*** Michigan State head coach Pat Fitzgerald was 1-1 against Notre Dame during his tenure at Northwestern. The Wildcats went on the road and beat then No. 18 Notre Dame by a 43-40 score in overtime on Nov. 15, 2014. Notre Dame beat Fitzgerald and the Wildcats in Evanston by a 31-21 score on Nov. 3, 2018. Fitzgerald also started at linebacker for Northwestern in three games against the Irish. Notre Dame won 27-12 in 1993 and 42-15 in 1994. The Wildcats upset Notre Dame 17-15 in 1995.
*** Purdue head coach Barry Odom's only contest against the Irish was last season, when Notre Dame beat Purdue by a 56-30 score inside Notre Dame Stadium.
*** Stanford head coach Tavita Pritchard played two games against Notre Dame. The Irish beat Stanford 28-21 in 2008. Pritchard went 18-28 for 182 yards. He threw two touchdowns and was picked off three times. Notre Dame won 21-14 in 2007, a game Pritchard went 10-24 for 102 yards. He was picked off twice. Former Irish quarterback Jimmy Clausen went 29-40 for 347 yards and three touchdowns against the Cardinal in 2008.
*** BYU head coach Kilani Sitake is 0-1 against Notre Dame, losing 28-20 to the Irish in Las Vegas on Oct. 8, 2022. That was Notre Dame's first season under Freeman. BYU was ranked No. 16 in the country at the time of that game. It was Freeman's first Top 25 win. Sitake played for the BYU team that beat Notre Dame 21-14 inside Notre Dame Stadium on Oct. 15, 1994.
*** Navy head coach Brian Newberry is 0-3 against Notre Dame as the head coach for the Midshipmen. Notre Dame beat Navy in 2023 (42-3), 2024 (51-14) and 2025 (49-10). He was the defensive coordinator at Navy from 2019 to 2022, and the Midshipmen went 0-3 against Notre Dame during that stretch.
*** Miami head coach Mario Cristobal beat Notre Dame in his lone matchup, which came at home to start the 2025 season. Cristobal played for Miami from 1989-1992, which means he was part of the Hurricane teams that played the Irish in 1989 and 1990. Miami won the 1989 game (27-10) but the Irish won the 1990 game by a score of 29-20.
*** Boston College head coach Bill O'Brien faced Notre Dame for the first time last season, a game the Irish won 25-10. O'Brien did face the Irish as an assistant coach during his tenure at Georgia Tech (1995-2002). Notre Dame beat Georgia Tech (17-13) in 1997 while the Jackets beat the Irish (35-28) in the 1998 Citrus Bowl.
*** Syracuse head coach Fran Brown's first matchup against the Irish as the leading man was last season, a game the Irish won 70-7. Brown also faced Notre Dame as an assistant coach at Temple. Notre Dame beat Temple by a 28-6 score in 2013 and by a 24-20 score in 2015.
*** Rice coach Scott Abell, North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick and SMU coach Rhett Lashlee have never faced Notre Dame in any capacity. Belichick did lose to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII. Giant wide receiver Plaxico Burress caught the game-winning 13-yard touchdown pass in that game.
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