Notre Dame Football: What would a Big Ten schedule look like?

Notre Dame Football: What would a hypothetical Big Ten schedule look like?

By Andrew Hall | Aug 2, 2022

Sept 8, 2007; University Park, PA, USA; Penn State linebacker Sean Lee (45) bobbles the ball but is unable to make the interception as Notre Dame tight end John Carlson (89) looks on in the fourth quarter at Beaver Stadium. Penn State defeated Notre Dame 31-10. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-USA TODAY Sports Copyright © James Lang /

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Marcus Freeman listens during a news conference Monday, Dec. 6, 2021, at the Irish Athletic Center in South Bend, Ind. Notre Dame formally introduced Freeman as its new football coach, a meteoric rise for the defensive coordinator. (Michael Caterina/South Bend Tribune via AP)Ap21340728940423 /

Notre Dame Football: What would a hypothetical Big Ten schedule look like?

How we got here

For this exercise, assume that to bait Notre Dame into joining the Big Ten, the conference also recruits Stanford. This would give the Big Ten a presence in the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose media market, the sixth largest in the country.

It also makes Notre Dame feel even more comfortable knowing their traditional California opponents will stay on the schedule.

With 18 teams (14 current Big Ten teams, 2 recently added in UCLA & USC, and Notre Dame and Stanford), a 3-7-7 scheduling model makes the most sense for the league. In other words, teams would have three permanent opponents and play the remaining schools in a rotating fashion.

Non-permanent opponents would play each other every other year. A 3-7-7 scheduling model would mean 10 conference games and, without schedule expansion, only 2 non-conference games.

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