Notre Dame Football: Which games should be in prime time in 2021?

The Notre Dame Football team has some huge matchups in 2021, and here are some that should definitely be in prime time.

As usual, Notre Dame Football will have multiple games under the lights in 2021. Just putting the name Notre Dame on the marquee is sure to draw attention, and when you place another top tier team next to Notre Dame, and you’ve got a recipe for ratings.

We’ve seen it in the past, most recently 2016, that even a down Fighting Irish team will draw attention. Whether it’s people cheering on the team, or people rooting for a loss, people are watching, as Notre Dame Football is a national brand no matter what side of the fence you are on.

Given Notre Dame’s contract with NBC, the Irish are out there for all to watch, and the away games on the schedule are usually ABC selections.

Last season, according to fbschedules.com, Notre Dame played in three of the top 10 most-watched games of 2020. Number one was the game against Clemson, number eight was a Black Friday clash with North Carolina, and tenth, and somewhat surprisingly, was a contest against Boston College.

All three of those were national broadcast games.

Notre Dame has had big prime time games in recent memory, led by the upset over number one ranked Clemson last season. Not including bowl games, over the last ten years, the Irish have averaged five prime time games per season.

Of course, not every game is worthy, but there have been a few that in retrospect are head-scratchers, and most of those have been on the road. Duke, Northwestern, and Temple are among the interesting names Notre Dame has faced off with.

So which games in 2021 are worthy of discussion?

Right off the bat, games against Toledo, Purdue, Navy and Georgia Tech are likely out. Those are all home games for the Irish, and none of those teams are likely to be great this year, although Navy is always a wildcard.