I can’t help it when anyone complains about the Notre Dame football schedule not being difficult enough, I always want to push back. It’s something innate inside of me because I always feel like it’s one of those areas where fans see what they want to see, use tools to measure the current schedule, but often ignore those tools (or ignore things altogether) when it comes to the past.
Some believe Notre Dame has traditionally played super tough schedules until very recent times with a particular target of blame made towards Brian Kelly and Jack Swarbrick for watering things down. This isn’t quite accurate.
Many are anticipating a dreadful home schedule for the Fighting Irish in 2024. Fine, but let’s go over some of the worst of all-time in the history of Notre Dame football.
How far back should we go?
I picked 1950 as a starting point because the sport was becoming modern-ish by then, we have the AP Poll having been around for a while, and all of the post WWII shenanigans are gone with Notre Dame pretty much playing schools that are still in the sport at the same level today. This way, we don’t have to discuss Chicago Physicians & Surgeons or Rose Polytechnic from years gone by.
I pulled up seasons in which Notre Dame did not play any home games against teams that finished in the AP Poll, as well as the same scenario except the Irish played only one team that finished ranked, but only worse than 15th in the poll. Here are the seasons (in chronological order) that just missed the cut:
1954
1971
1975
1985
1997
2009
2014
2019
Out of these, the 2009 and 2019 seasons were the strongest ‘bad’ home schedules. The former featured 5 teams that won at least 8 games (Nevada, USC, BC, Navy, UConn) although it lacked quality on the top end. The Trojans were the only team to finish ranked and this was the sad final year of the Pete Carroll era where USC finished tied for 5th in the Pac-10.
4-3 at home in 2009, changes were made!
The 2019 season had a couple dregs (New Mexico & Bowling Green) with decent 8-5 Virginia, USC, and Virginia Tech teams, plus the last good Navy team (11-2) before the wheels fell off the Ken Niumatalolo era.
The closest to making the cut is definitely 1954, a mirage season in Terry Brennan’s first season in South Bend. Texas and Purdue looked like tough opening home opponents but would go on to combine for 8 losses. The slate had nothing to write home about (get it?) except a USC team that barely finished ranked after placing 2nd in the Pacific Coast Conference but lost 4 games total anyway, including its final 3 culminating in a Rose Bowl defeat.
Now, here are the top 8 worst home schedules in Notre Dame history:
#8
1955
Opponent Win Percentage- .469
Brennan started his Notre Dame coaching career 17-3 and finished it 15-15 and one explanation was the gifted super easy home schedules in his first couple seasons. The matchup with Navy this year (no. 9 Notre Dame vs. no. 4 Middies) seemed like a huge game at the time but the sea goats were defeated by the Irish, tied Duke the following week, and ended their season with a loss to Army while barely hanging on to stay ranked. In 1956, Brennan faced no. 2 Oklahoma and lost 40-0 as the Sooners went on to win the National Championship.
#7
1964
Opponent Win Percentage – .468
I’ve always thought Ara Parseghian’s debut season with the Irish would look a lot different if it were played in modern times. Four out of the five home games were against teams .500 or below. The top home game against Purdue (not yet a thorn in the Irish side that they would become against Parseghian) finished a decent 6-3 overall and 3rd in the Big Ten. Four out of the 5 away games were also against under .500 opponents, the exception being the controversial season ending loss at 7-3 USC.
#6
1962
Opponent Win Percentage – .457
The last season of Joe Kuharich’s career in South Bend was a doozy. At home, Michigan State (5-4) was the only team that finished at least a game over .500 and the Irish lost the game 31-7. Sure, there was only 1 more home loss thrown in there but that was a 24-6 defeat to a 4-loss Purdue team. Notre Dame football was in rough shape during this era!
#5
2015
Opponent Win Percentage – .440
Quality win.Â
If it weren’t for Navy (11-2) this home schedule would’ve been utterly bleak as hell. The fact that Navy has to carry the schedule probably means it was far too bleak. That Texas win was fun, then the Horns lost 6 more games. Georgia Tech (somehow ranked 14th at kickoff!??) lost 9 total games. That was followed up by another 9-loss team (UMass) and another 9-loss team (Wake Forest) to close out the home schedule. At least USC made the Pac-12 Championship Game! The Trojans also lost 6 games total.
#4
1972
Opponent Win Percentage – .410
Another Parseghian creampuff home schedule. This was the end of a really poor era for Pittsburgh and they finished 1-10 on the season. Purdue’s golden era was firmly over and they’d change coach’s after a 6-5 season. TCU finished 5-6 and so too did a slowly growing Miami Hurricanes program about 7 years away from being very competitive. Missouri finished 6-6 and somehow beat Notre Dame in South Bend–it was one of the worst losses for Parseghian in a very frustrating and confusing season overall.
#3
1974
Opponent Win Percentage – .367
What was going on with the scheduling back in the day, this is the 5th Ara home schedule to make this article! There’s no way anyone could’ve found this schedule appealing inside Notre Dame Stadium with Rice, Army, and Air Force included (they’d go a combined 7-25-1). Purdue and Pitt hadn’t been good for quite a while (they combined to go 11-10-1) and just like a couple years prior, Miami (6-5) was in no position to offer a big-time game. Going 5-1 against that slate (sub .500 Purdue beat the Irish) really didn’t impress much.
#2
1951
Opponent Win Percentage – .361
Besides a crushing 35-0 loss to eventual 9-0 quasi National Champion* Michigan State in East Lansing (the worst loss by far in the Frank Leahy era) this was a horror overall schedule for the Irish in 1951. Out of the 4 opponents played inside Notre Dame Stadium only Purdue (5-4) finished above .500 and Indiana, SMU, and Iowa combined for 18 losses.
*The Spartans ended the regular season undefeated and no. 2 in the AP Poll. They did not play in a bowl game and no. 1 Tennessee lost the Sugar Bowl 28-13 to no. 3 Maryland. Good times.
#1
2008
Opponent Win Percentage – .356
Little did we know.
You just shake your head. The opponents in the first 4 home games of 2008 ended up losing a combined 34 games. Thirty four!! Notre Dame did go 4-0 in these games, although the opener against San Diego State did make it seem like the program still hadn’t moved past the disastrous 2007 season. Perhaps in many ways, they hadn’t.
The win over Michigan felt good in the rain but the first year of Rich Rod netted them a measly 3 wins all season long. Purdue was trash (4-8) and this was Stanford’s last poor Jim Harbaugh team (5-7) before they got things going. The toughest it would get is a 2nd place Pitt team from the Big East (remember the Big East?) who had lost to Rutgers prior to playing Notre Dame and finished this year with a legendary 3-0 loss in the Sun Bowl to Oregon State. The cherry on top of this stink bomb of a home schedule was the Senior Day loss to 3-9 Syracuse.
I won’t speak for other fans, but for me, the question is not so much our opponents’ winning percentage in a given year but whether ND is at least trying to schedule compelling and competitive home games. Obviously we can’t control if a team like Texas or Michigan has a 3-9 disaster season out of nowhere.
This year’s options for home games are two intentional cupcakes and four ACC opponents, one of which is Stanford. There is exactly one Big Home Game (TM) — FSU on November 9. If you want to see a big game, that’s it. That’s your option. Hope it’s within your budget.
IMO, that’s a pretty shoddy way to treat fans. I don’t expect ND to play a murderer’s row of blue bloods every fall, but you have to give fans a few more options than that.
The real problem is that the ACC has been garbage. The schedule looks a lot worse when Pitt and BC turn into 3-4 win programs and you’re contractually obligated to keep playing them.
True, although we were playing crappy Pitt and BC teams frequently before the ACC deal too.
In my view, it’s more that the ACC feeds us a steady diet of teams virtually no ND fan cares about — UNC, NC State, UVA, Wake Forest, Duke, Louisville — the southern basketball schools.
I agree with your schedule take. Sorry, unreasonable expectations cfb guy that Texas had a down year. Couldn’t really expect that scheduling it 8 years out.
Big picture can look at it as a product with entertainment value because that’s what it really is.
A lot of these bad schedules were in a time when ND was a focal point in entertainment, and going to the game was the big event that you planned around just to actually see ND play. What else were you going to do to see ND? What other major football were you going to see? What else were you going to do on Saturday? It’s kind of the same reason why people put up with being crammed into a dreary stadium with no amenities for years.
Now, there are more entertainment options, ways to see ND, and ways to watch high-quality college football. Why would I do the whole fly to Chicago, get to South Bend, and then go to a game dance when I could be just as entertained doing a number of cheaper, more accessible things and asking the guy at the brewery or bar to put on the ND game or watch it on my phone or watch it with friends.
Really, it’s only worth it if the matchup is worth it. Also, I had a real purchasing decision regarding flying out to Chicago, going to South Bend, etc. If I’m going to take time off and spend a lot of money on massively surcharged things for a ND game, I can travel other places. Compared to say, 1954, traveling to places like international destinations is easier than ever. If I’m spending a lot of money and making plans, I’d rather go somewhere new or exotic or see a new culture. That wasn’t as much of a possibility in the past.
I agree you can’t control marquee teams having down years. You schedule them and take your chances.
If you accept we are stuck with 5 ACC games, essentially we have scheduled 2 marquee games (A&M, USC). The problem is this year we have scheduled Navy (ok that is every year, but always a question), Army (in isolation ok) BUT Army should not be on the schedule when we have TWO MAC schools. In fairness, Army was supposed to be the good Miami, but they wanted out his year. Then Purdue. I will grant we have lost that game from time to time in our down years, but has it been truly an interesting game since the 1970s? As fratty points out with travel options, Purdue is certainly not a must travel to ND game.
We can count on the ACC for one (they really can choose among FSU, Miami, Clemson). They have a tier of non-marquee teams that can be a good game in a given year – Ga. Tech, UNC, Louisville, Va. Tech, NC State (who may belong in general indifference category below). While ND has a history with Ga. Tech, we really don’t with the others. IMO, Va. Tech has to prove that they can win with a coach not named Beamer before they can achieve marquee game status and if they can’t, they fall down to the general indifference category.
Then we have our traditional opponents as noted- BC, Pitt (I will avoid the charged term rival).
I dont believe Stanford will count toward the 5 and they will remain every year, at least for a time.
Personally, I think in the world of NIL it is only a matter of time before SMU is a true power again. They invented it after all. Plus, it will get us to Texas which is important.
Cal is the same as Wake, Duke, Syracuse and U. Va. General indifference with a lot of travel. If I left an ACC team out, add them to this category. Living in DC, I like those games for ease to get to a road game, but not much else.
The schedule would feel better if Stanford was not likely to be hot garbage this year, but the games we were free to schedule are really A&M, Army, NIU, Miami of Ohio and Purdue. Army was not set until after the rape of the PAC-12 so we could have easily scheduled a Washington State or Oregon State, perhaps not exciting but not an embarrassment. Not a good look.
I appreciate the analysis and perspective here but I don’t think a “well actually…..” moment makes me feel any better.not to mention the bulk of this is in the 50s – 70s. And it’s not necessarily the home schedule but the schedule as a whole that is both meh and boring. If texas am and fsu can be both be only at 1 or 2 losses teams by the end of the year and Louisville go 9-3 then I think we can find solace
To be sure, I never intended to make anyone feel better about the 2024 schedule. But, I do always caution against making grand declarations about the schedule before it’s played and it’s always fun to look back at the past.