Pros and Cons of Notre Dame’s 2026 Football Schedule

If you’ve heard anything about Notre Dame‘s schedule this coming season, you’re aware that it isn’t exactly setting the world on fire in terms of difficulty.

The first six games Notre Dame plays come against that failed to qualify for bowl games last year. While that doesn’t guarantee a similiar outcome for all in 2026, it’s hard to see any of those six challenging for their respective conference titles, either.

That said, BYU was right next to Notre Dame in being the first teams left out of the College Football Playoff, and Miami had a chance to win the national championship in the final seconds last of last season, so there isn’t a complete cakewalk, either.

So, as a whole, is Notre Dame’s schedule in 2026 a good thing, bad thing, or somewhere in the middle?

2026 Notre Dame Football Schedule

A quick reminder of Notre Dame’s schedule this fall:

Sept. 6: vs. Wisconsin (Green Bay)
Sept. 12: vs. Rice
Sept. 19: vs. Michigan State
Sept. 26: at Purdue
Oct. 3: at North Carolina
Oct. 10: vs. Stanford
Oct. 17: at BYU
Oct. 31: vs. Navy (Foxborough)
Nov. 7: vs. Miami
Nov. 14: vs. Boston College
Nov. 21: vs. SMU
Nov. 28: at Syracuse

Notre Dame Football Schedule – The Pros

While it isn’t the most challenging of starts, Notre Dame shouldn’t have to be firing on all cylinders to start the season.

Last year it began with a road test at Miami before welcoming a Texas A&M squad (that eventually made the Playoff) to South Bend.

This year, it gets those first six games before a true road test at BYU, which has become an underrated tough place for opponents to win.

While Miami is the game of the year ahead of the season, SMU shouldn’t be any slouch, either.

Notre Dame Football Schedule – The Cons

Just like last year, Notre Dame will get no benefit of the doubt with this slate. It simply can’t expect to go 10-2 again and make the College Football Playoff.

While Big Ten and SEC schedules are often overhyped, Notre Dame doesn’t play many of those, pretty good but far from great type teams.

Yes, Miami is great and a Notre Dame win in that game could end up being as impressive as almost any, by any team, this fall.

However, after BYU and SMU, the difficulty falls off in a massive way.

When Notre Dame made its run to the National Championship Game in the 2024 season, it closed the year with what wound up being a bit of a grueling win at USC while it also had to grind one out to start the year at Texas A&M.

Does that type of game and preparation for the postseason exist for this team? Difficulty in the moment might be uncomfortable, but it has traditionally made Notre Dame better as the season goes on under Marcus Freeman.

Nick Shepkowski’s Quick Takeaway

We can sit and defend Notre Dame’s schedule, because when it was originally made, Wisconsin was a lot better program, but what good does that do?

It’s not that I think Notre Dame has to be tested week-in and week-out all season long, but I do like a true road test in preparation for the College Football Playoff, where crowds won’t be like the ones back at Notre Dame Stadium.

I just don’t see that game existing for Notre Dame this fall, except for the trip to BYU. That’s not the end of the world by any means and this team will still be plenty capable of winning a national championship come the postseason, but in terms of preparation it’s something I’d prefer to have a little more of than what’s actually there.