Notre Dame football: The best schedule never played

The Notre Dame football team has seemingly played every major university in college football. We examine some of the top opponents the Irish haven’t played.

It goes without saying the Notre Dame Football team is perhaps the most storied team in not just college football, but all sports. The only thing Notre Dame football hasn’t done is win a conference championship, which is an impossible task when you’re not even in a conference.

It’s surprising to know that there are quite a few power five teams the Irish have never played. Not just power five teams, but top tier programs in the Group of Five. But now seems like the perfect time to change that.

So today, we’ll assemble the greatest schedule Notre Dame has never played.

A couple of notes here: first, I tried to fill this with as many teams Notre Dame has never played. There are three Group of Five teams, but one of those games will be on the road. In keeping a tradition alive, there will be no FCS opponents either.

To add “strength of schedule,” I’ve added teams that the Notre Dame football team has faced, but under these conditions: Notre Dame must have either faced the team in a bowl OR never played on that team’s campus or in their city. For example, the University of Minnesota has a new stadium the Irish have not played in, but Notre Dame has played them in Minneapolis. This disqualifies the Gophers from appearing on the schedule.

Teams on future schedules (per FBSchedules.com) are also disqualified from the format. Therefore, teams like Arkansas, Toledo, and NIU will not be making appearances.

As for the home and away format, it’s simple: 6 home games, 6 road games.

Now that the rules are set, let’s get started.