The 2026 Notre Dame football schedule is an oddity outlier in which the Irish won’t face a ranked opponent until the second half of the season in Game Seven.
As a result of this schedule quirk, the Irish have been able to rise up to number two in the polls while beating the brakes off six undermanned opponents.
While that journey to 6-0 has been fun and undoubtedly great for my blood pressure readings, it’s time for Notre Dame to finally be tested. And the stakes couldn’t be much higher.
Notre Dame has talked the talk, now it’s time to walk the walk
From outside the Irish ecosystem, it’s very easy to see why most of America will be rooting against Notre Dame in this football game.
Notre Dame lost its two biggest games of the season last year, yet still felt slighted by the CFP committee and opted out of a lower-level bowl game in which the opponent would have been BYU.
The Irish offseason was spent talking about “leaving no doubt” this year, and then once the season came along, Notre Dame dominated six inferior, unranked opponents.
There is no way Notre Dame can do and say all that it has and lose to the Cougars without also losing program credibility and making everyone question just how real this great run has been.
Whether that conclusion is totally accurate or fair is debatable, but perception is reality in this dynamic, and it won’t look pretty for Notre Dame.
Aside from just the perceptual hit, Notre Dame’s playoff odds will be in grave danger with this weak of a schedule and a loss on it before facing Miami. The stakes are huge in this moment for Notre Dame in every way imaginable.
BYU is good because its culture is terrific
Everyone in the college football ecosystem should respect BYU.
The football program culture is very strong and feels more like a family unit than just a football team. The Cougars are resilient, play hard, fundamentally sound football, and never quit.
That being said, nobody thinks of BYU as one of the most talented rosters in the country.
This isn’t a roster full of blue-chip 4-5 star mega athletes sought after by every top program in the land. This would add to the national mockery the Irish would receive should it falter in this test.
The bottom line is, if Notre Dame truly is worth its number two ranking, it grinds out a huge road win against BYU and propels itself into the CFP driver’s seat.
Should Notre Dame falter, it will likely need to win out to lock up a spot. This game is about perception and reality, and the Irish must display program maturity while collecting its first top ten road win since visiting Oklahoma back in 2012.
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