Notre Dame's soft schedule doesn't diminish Irish talent
Josh Pate acknowledges that while Notre Dame's 2026 schedule features only one top-20 opponent -- Miami at home, with their toughest road game at Brigham Young -- while emphasizing this doesn't mean they aren't a legitimately good team.
Video Transcript
I'm, I couldn't be higher on Notre Dame.
So I'm not doing the thing where I say, "Boy, Notre Dame can't win anything.
Look at that schedule."
It has nothing to do with the other.
Yes, Notre Dame's schedule is pretty soft this year.
They open with Wisconsin.
I think Wisconsin could be a little better than people think, but I digress.
There is no stretch on this schedule.
I'm not trying to sell you that Notre Dame's schedule's tough.
There is one team that they play that's in the top 20 of the FanDuel playoff odds right now, and that's Miami, and they get them at home.
And they play SMU at home.
Their tough road game is at Brigham Young.
So yeah, there's no stretch there.
I think they're gonna be a good team.
It's just not gonna be the most battle-tested of teams.
