Who should Notre Dame football fans root for in Week 2?

With Notre Dame football on a bye week, here is a viewing and rooting guide for the Irish faithful.

Bye weeks suck for fans. There’s no denying it. That Saturday  always feels a little empty with Notre Dame football having the week off, and it leaves some of us wandering around aimlessly, wondering what to do with the day. Yard work? Clean the basement?

Meh.

There’s still football on, and there are games that Notre Dame football fans should be paying attention to. Here is a list of those games, including who and what you as an Irish fan should be rooting for.

Army at Michigan

Yes, I get it. We all hate Michigan. I took a lot of flack last weekend — including from other Notre Dame-centric outlets — for telling people to root for Michigan.

Put your hate aside and don’t be an ignorant college football fan.

Strength of schedule matters. There’s a huge difference between beating a Michigan team that already has one or two losses and beating an unbeaten, Top 10 Wolverine squad.

Root for Army to beat up Michigan and push Harbaugh’s boys to their limits, but root for the W for the Wolverines. Sorry, not sorry.

Cincinnati at Ohio State

No brainer. you’re pulling for the upset so the Irish can move up in the polls.

Texas A&M at Clemson

You want Clemson here and this is why: the fewer “elite” SEC teams there are, the better it is for everyone, and less chance for multiple SEC teams in the College Football Playoff. Additionally, an A&M win could vault them ahead of the Irish. Clemson is going to win the ACC. Let’s hope they stomp the Aggies.

LSU at Texas

You want LSU in this one because they have less to gain and plenty of tougher games ahead of them. They are already ahead of the Irish in the polls and there’s a decent chance they’ll stay there well into the season. A Texas win would be enough for the Longhorns to leapfrog the Irish. We don’t want that. GEAUX TIGERS!

Stanford at USC

We want the Cardinal in this one. With Stanford being the last game of the season, you want them ranked as high as possible in order to give the Irish the biggest statement win possible to wrap up the 2019 regular season run.