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Notre Dame Football: 10 Things You Need To Know About The 2016 Season

By Joshua Vowles

Oct 17, 2015; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish cheerleaders perform against the Southern California Trojans tat Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 17, 2015; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish cheerleaders perform against the Southern California Trojans tat Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 3, 2015; Clemson, SC, USA; Clemson fans cheer in the third quarter as rain falls in the game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Clemson Memorial Stadium. The Clemson Tigers defeated Notre Dame 24-22. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 3, 2015; Clemson, SC, USA; Clemson fans cheer in the third quarter as rain falls in the game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Clemson Memorial Stadium. The Clemson Tigers defeated Notre Dame 24-22. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports /

No Big Time ACC Game On The Road

For the past two years, Notre Dame has been knee deep in their new ACC partnership. The Irish have those five ACC games a year, and in 2014 and 2015, they had at least one road game against an ACC power. In fact, it wasn’t just an ACC power, it was against playoff team Florida State in 2014, and national runner-up Clemson in 2015.

These were epic showdowns that helped shape the entire college football season. They lived up to the hype and then some on both occasions- and they were both road games for the Irish. They were also both losses that happened in the final minute of the game.

As tragic as they were for Notre Dame’s record, they lent legitimacy to the schedule and neither loss directly eliminated the Irish from playoff discussion.

For 2016, Notre Dame has drawn the slate of Duke, Syracuse, Miami, Virginia Tech, and North Carolina State. Only North Carolina State is a true road game for Notre Dame as the Syracuse game is at the Meadowlands.

So, as of right now, there is no real national hype for a Notre Dame road game against an ACC opponent and that presents an image problem to a schedule that only has three true road games.

Next: Do You Need Some Hype?

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