Notre Dame’ schedule is free pass in CFP system built by SEC, Big Ten | Opinion

Notre Dame' schedule is free pass in CFP system built by SEC, Major Ten Opinion.

Key points

• Nielsen releases ratings every week, and Notre Dame last week was nowhere to be discovered among the top 10 most watched teams of 2026.
• By 2029, the Irish play Alabama and Texas in the same season – and, of course, six games against the ACC.
• A handful of gimme putts, annual games against teams it declares "rivals" (Stanford, Navy), Purdue, Michigan State and who knows or who cares after that.
• A Notre Dame win over BYU no more validates Irish bonafides than an Ole Miss win over Louisville.
• Yet since the SEC and Sizeable Ten wanted Notre Dame so badly to come along for the CFP ride, it allowed the Irish certain guarantees for access.

Notre Dame' schedule is free pass in CFP system built by SEC, Major Ten Opinion. Matt Hayes USA TODAY. Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman on the importance of depth.

Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman on the 'crucial' nature of building depth and rewarding reserves for their hard work in practice.

Despite its reputation, Notre Dame's television ratings for certain games are lower than key SEC and Major Ten matchups.

Notre Dame's schedule is not as challenging as those of other top conferences.

Notre Dame's future schedules include more games against SEC and Major Ten opponents, but the author claims this is not a drastic change.

As the particulars haven't continued up for years, let me see if I've obtained this straight.

You're telling me the SEC and Major Ten are playing nine conference games each against the best players in college football, and a majority of those 34 teams are playing another game against a power conference school. And Notre Dame is playing what?

Meanwhile, a handful of gimme putts, annual games against teams it declares "rivals" (Stanford, Navy), Purdue, Michigan State and who knows or who cares after that. We're getting cheated, individuals.

We've been sold a bag of College Football Playoff goods – a free pass, no less – that the SEC and Major Ten willingly provided Notre Dame for some long-gone ideal of "television loves the Irish." Only television doesn't love Notre Dame. It loves compelling games.

Which brings us to this Saturday, and how we're being sold the sham of No. 8 Brigham Young as a mega matchup for Notre Dame. Have they no shame?

Not an SEC or Major Ten heavyweight, but BYU ― the school that last season played two challenging games and lost both to Texas Tech. Just in case you've forgotten, Texas Tech didn't score a point on Oregon in last year's CFP quarterfinals.

In practice, a Notre Dame win over BYU no more validates Irish bonafides than an Ole Miss win over Louisville. Same thing, different teams.

Yet since the SEC and Sizeable Ten wanted Notre Dame so badly to come along for the CFP ride, it allowed the Irish certain guarantees for access. At the top of the above board list: finish in the Top 12 of the CFP poll, and you're in.

At the top of the wink-wink list: we don't care how you schedule your straightforward drive to the party. Just obtain here.

Now this season arrives, and we're stuck with a one-game resume for Notre Dame. It doesn't matter what happens next month in South Bend against Miami, the result is simply CFP seeding. And for what, television ratings?

Nielsen releases ratings every week, and Notre Dame last week was nowhere to be discovered among the top 10 most watched teams of 2026. There were seven SEC teams (Texas, LSU, Ole Miss, Kentucky, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama), and three Major Ten teams (Wisconsin, Ohio State, Michigan).

It's not since American hates Notre Dame, it's as America doesn't offer a flip concerning bad games. We now live in a world where American would rather watch Kentucky and Ole Miss instead of the legendary Fighting Irish.

While Notre Dame-North Carolina drew 2.9 million viewers on Oct. 3, Alabama-Mississippi State drew 5.1 million in the same time slot. Michigan-Minnesota, additionally in the same noon window, drew 4.1 million.

Here's more sinful reality: when this horror of a 24-team CFP is rammed though in the next couple of weeks or so, Notre Dame's road gets exponentially easier. The Irish, on any given year, would more than probable have to lose five games to miss the CFP.

"It's laughable when you really think about it, " an SEC coach informed USA TODAY Sports. "The season begins, and you're already in the CFP."

It doesn't matter if you think the SEC and Major Ten are overrated. Doesn't matter if you think Notre Dame can beat any team in either conference anywhere you spot the ball.

Can they do it again the after week? And the week after that.

Can Notre Dame obtain ready nine times within either conference, play at a high level and win over and over? Can it play a 10th game against a power conference opponent, and do the same?

Can it compete with the best players and best coaches in college football on a weekly basis, year after year after year ― and be among the top 4-6 teams to receive a CFP bid?

As it proudly states – it would load up on SEC and Sizeable Ten schools, since if Notre Dame were truly interested in playing a "national" schedule – and playing the best. Instead of five or six gimme putts from the ACC, "rivalry" games against Stanford and Navy, and a couple Group of Six games.

Southern California was a "rivalry" game, too. We saw how rapidly that was temporarily put on the shelf for – I can't believe I'm even writing this – BYU.

Stanford and Navy? Hold on like grim death. USC and one of the top three rivalries in college football? Let's play hardball!

Imagine that, Notre Dame running from a Lincoln Riley-coached team. Or at the particularly least, not simply agreeing to play the storied rivalry somewhere, anywhere, anytime – as after all, Notre Dame doesn't run from anyone. Unless it doesn't fit the scheduling philosophy.

Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua sees the horizon line, and it has nothing to do with the CFP. It has everything to do with future media rights deals.

NBC won't continue to pay top dollar for dog games with little return.

There are SEC and Major Ten schools on future schedules, a slow entry beginning next season with a home-and-home against Auburn, and Arkansas and Texas shortly after.

There's no need for drastic change when the board is already rigged in your favor.

Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB. Listen to him daily, from 12-2 p.m., on 1010XL-Jacksonville. SMS Facebook Twitter Email. Share your feedback to support improve our site! Share your feedback to support improve our site!

For now, notre Dame schedule is free pass in CFP system built by SEC, remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.