How Notre Dame’s opponents fared in WEEK 2 of the CFB season
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Notre Dame’s 2026 college football schedule has been called many thing over the last eight months, but “tough” or anywhere near the word “hard” was certainly not among them. Still, some have mentioned that this Irish schedule could look a lot trickier as the season progresses. While they may eventually be true, it may not matter all that much (except for message boards and social media).
Notre Dame took a minute or two to get going against the Wisconsin Badgers in the season opener, but eventually the Irish whooped them 42-13. Notre Dame welcomed the Rice Owls to South Bend for the home opener, and sent them back to Texas with a 52-0 loss. This week the Irish bring back a rivalry game with the Michigan State Spartans.
Notre Dame is likely to be favored in every game this season, and they have become the popular pick to win the national championship. Their strength of schedule probably isn’t going to matter much, but let’s keep track of it anyway.
| OPPONENT | RESULT | RECORD | AP TOP 25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wisconsin Badgers | W vs Western Illinois 36-9 | 1-1 | – |
| Rice Owls | L vs Notre Dame 52-0 | 1-1 | – |
| Michigan State Spartans | W vs Eastern Michigan 35-7 | 2-0 | – |
| Purdue Boilermakers | L vs Wake Forest 38-36 | 1-1 | – |
| North Carolina Tar Heels | W vs East Tennessee 35-3 | 2-0 | – |
| Stanford Cardinal | L vs Miami 45-6 | 1-1 | – |
| BYU Cougars | W vs Arizona 28-17 | 2-0 | 11 |
| Navy Midshipmen | L vs FAU 38-30 | 1-1 | – |
| Miami Hurricanes | W vs FCS FAMU 77-7 | 1-1 | 5 |
| Boston College Eagles | W vs Rutgers 28-21 | 1-1 | – |
| SMU Mustangs | W vs UC Davis 56-10 | 2-0 | 16 |
| Syracuse Orange | L vs Cal 21-18 | 1-1 | – |
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