Schedule Thoughts
June 26th, 2009via Rivals:
It was pointed out in last week’s mailbag that Notre Dame is one of just five major programs (USC, UCLA, Washington and Tennessee are the others) that haven’t faced a Football Championship Subdivision opponent since the schedule was expanded to 12 games in 2006.
Although an undeniable fact, the inclusion of Notre Dame sparked a wave of emails discrediting the Irish. Most were sent from readers that – like Misha – identified themselves as Michigan fans.
That’s ironic because Notre Dame’s schedule was comparable to Michigan’s.
Michigan played Penn State. Notre Dame played USC. Both teams played Michigan State and Purdue. Both beat teams that managed just two victories – Notre Dame over San Diego State, Michigan over Miami (Ohio). Michigan did play undefeated Utah, while Notre Dame played winless Washington. Obviously, that’s a big difference there. But the remaining teams on Michigan’s ‘08 schedule – Northwestern, Wisconsin, Illinois, Penn State, Toledo and Minnesota – were a combined 41-35. The remaining teams on Notre Dame’s ‘08 regular-season schedule – Pittsburgh, Navy, Syracuse, Boston College, North Carolina and Stanford – were a combined 42-35.
That’s 11 games. The 12th? Notre Dame beat Michigan 35-17.
So, when you analyze it further, Notre Dame’s schedule wasn’t much different than Michigan’s.
In fact, Notre Dame’s schedule wasn’t that easy. Half of the teams the Irish faced last season played in bowl games.
But the repeated criticism against the Irish was that they only beat one team with a winning record (Navy) in the regular season. Some argued that Navy isn’t even a quality opponent, even though the Midshipmen have posted at least eight victories in each of the past six seasons.
Yet, there were three bowl teams from the power conferences that had just one regular-season victory over a Football Bowl Subdivision team with a winning record. Minnesota beat Florida Atlantic, Connecticut beat Cincinnati and Arizona beat California.
Kentucky didn’t have a regular-season victory over a winning FBS team.
No one questions LSU, but it beat just two winning teams in the regular season – 7-6 South Carolina and 8-5 Troy. Wisconsin also beat just two winning FBS teams – 7-6 Fresno State and 7-6 Minnesota.
But that’s enough looking back.
Notre Dame’s ‘09 schedule again doesn’t include any FCS opponents and 10 are major-conference opponents. The other two opponents are Nevada and Navy, both of whom went to bowls last season. The Irish also face Michigan, Michigan State, USC, Boston College, Pittsburgh, Connecticut and Stanford, among others.
That might not be the strongest schedule in the nation, but it’s definitely not the easiest.




