Notre Dame Football: How the 2018 Schedule Stacks up against 2017

Notre Dame is notorious for having one of the toughest schedules in college football. How does their 2018 slate stack up against the gauntlet of 2017? 

One of the biggest talking points in college football is always the schedule. Strength of schedule is very important. History has shown it can determine if you’re in the playoffs or not. However, too tough of a schedule can turn a great team on the field into a good team in the record books.

One of Notre Dame’s calling cards is their independence, which allows them to schedule a variety of teams from a variety of regions and a variety of conferences. Notre Dame’s insistence on independence has much to do with their desire for a strong strength of schedule. It’s the identity of the program.

Notre Dame’s schedule allows for great program exposure. Each year, the Irish play a game in California, against either Stanford or Southern California. They have also played at Oklahoma, Clemson, Florida State, Michigan, and Michigan State in recently memory. Few teams have the flexibility that the Irish have.

These marquee road games are in addition to playing each of their home games on national television. Though few knew it at the time, when Georgia came to South Bend last September, it was the beginning of two teams’ road to contention in the College Football Playoff. Thanks to Notre Dame’s schedule, the road to the College Football Playoff runs straight through South Bend. There are only a few programs that can boast such a statement.

In short, Notre Dame always tries schedule quality teams, and this year is no different.

The Irish combined opponent record is 85-69, which includes 8 bowl teams, two divisions winners, and one conference champion.

But how does that compare to last year’s schedule? We’ll attempt to answer that question by looking at each season’s schedule on a week-by-week basis.