Notre Dame football adds premiere 2025 season opening opponent

This season, the Notre Dame football team kicked off its season with a tough one in College Station. It turns out that win against the Texas A&M Aggies is carrying a lot of weight. It might be boosting the team to hosting a playoff game.

Maybe that’s why the Fighting Irish are cool with starting the 2025 campaign with the Miami Hurricanes. That part has been decided on. The Irish will be traveling to Miami.

Interestingly, because the game takes place on Labor Day weekend, just what day the Notre Dame football team will face off against Miami isn’t set just yet. 

Notre Dame football starting 2025 with premier opponent

Sometime between February and May, ABC/ESPN will decide whether the Notre Dame-at-UM game next year will be played on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday or Monday evenings, or Saturday afternoon, according to the Miami Tribune.

With that announcement, the Fighting Irish have almost filled out their 2025 schedule. 

After opening the season with Miami, there is a week that currently doesn’t have an opponent before they take on the Texas A&M Aggies in South Bend on September 13. They’ll then host Purdue, travel to Arkansas, return home to face Boise State, then stay home to play USC, and Navy. Then it’s on the road for Boston College, back home for NC State, Syracuse and then a road game at Pitt.

BC, Pitt, Syracuse and NC State haven’t been dated yet so it’s not clear the order of those games. That 12th opponent will almost certainly be inserted in between Miami and Texas A&M in order to give the Notre Dame football team a week where they aren’t playing a potential Top 10 opponent.

At first glance, the Notre Dame footbal team’s 2025 schedule looks like it could be tougher than this year. Next season, they’ll play at least four teams that are legitimate playoff contenders in 2024.