The Optimal Notre Dame Scheduling Model

Notre Dame Joe

Notre Dame Joe

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NorthDakota said:
Thats odd. ASU is actually a very normal and good OOC P4 opponent to have on the schedule?
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The Texas boys are screaming about their OOC last year. If UT had scheduled Kent State instead of @OSU they would have been right there with us in the 2-loss rugby scrum.
 
TNUtoNotreDame

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This will continue to become a thing. I think the Alabama games and others will be canceled. This is the squeeze that we’re actually going to feel. The ACC makes our schedules suck, but we’re gonna have a tough time picking up out of conference games.
 
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stlnd01

stlnd01

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Me2SouthBend said:
A by product of this would be a good Navy team helping SOS for ND w another win before the committee makes selections. May be moot if playoff is expanded beyond 12 teams anyway.
www.cbssports.com

Jeff Monken suggests moving Army-Navy Game to Thanksgiving weekend to aid College Football Playoff schedule

The CFP could begin and end earlier if the proposal by Army's coach were to be adopted
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com
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Navy could be 11-1 with an average margin of victory of 35 points except we shut them out, and we would never get one iota of credit for beating them.
 
GowerND11

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All these teams canceling ND games or other tough OOC games, just so their conference schedule can have 2 teams that are good because the conferences have 40 teams now.
 
stlnd01

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GowerND11 said:
All these teams canceling ND games or other tough OOC games, just so their conference schedule can have 2 teams that are good because the conferences have 40 teams now.
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It's bad for the sport and for the fans but I don't really blame the schools themselves. They're responding to a system that has become entirely about making the playoffs.
And - at least for premiere programs in the two biggest conferences - the downside risk of losing an OOC game probably exceeds the upside of winning one. Texas sure could have been in this year if they hadn't lost to Ohio State, and Bama wouldn't have been on the bubble if they hadn't lost to FSU. Why take those chances when you can tune up against tomato cans instead?
 
Huntr

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stlnd01 said:
I don't really blame the schools themselves. They're responding to a system that has become entirely about making the playoffs.
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What?!

The schools are the ones who did this!

The schools created the conferences and NCAA.

The schools made the conferences huge and untenable.

The schools chased the tv money from CCGs and expanded playoffs.

The schools fucked the SA's since the inception of college football.

Not blaming the schools who are responsible for every aspect this monster is crazy.

To be honest, it speaks to the phenomenal communication job they've done in convincing fans that all this shit just...happened.
 
stlnd01

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Huntr said:
What?!

The schools are the ones who did this!

The schools created the conferences and NCAA.

The schools made the conferences huge and untenable.

The schools chased the tv money from CCGs and expanded playoffs.

The schools fucked the SA's since the inception of college football.

Not blaming the schools who are responsible for every aspect this monster is crazy.

To be honest, it speaks to the phenomenal communication job they've done in convincing fans that all this shit just...happened.
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Sure, the schools are the conferences and the conferences are the schools, and together they created the system that got us here. I'm aware.

I guess what I mean is I don't necessarily blame the current athletic directors and coaches at places like Bama and Texas, who are paid a whole lot of money to do one very specific thing (make the playoffs and then advance as far as possible), and will be quickly replaced if they do not succeed at that. Dropping games like us is a totally logical response to what they've seen unfold over the last couple of seasons.

It's a little different in USC's case because of the history and because the Notre Dame game means more to many of their fans than their actual conference games do. But for a Bama or Texas, playing us in September is just a fun appetizer for the season that actually matters, and I can see why they might decide it's not worth the risk of losing and replace us with North Texas or whoever. The fact that it screws us and offers a less-appealing product to their fans are secondary concerns.
 
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Notre Dame Joe

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GowerND11 said:
All these teams canceling ND games or other tough OOC games, just so their conference schedule can have 2 teams that are good because the conferences have 40 teams now.
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And a bloated conference makes it somewhat easier to get a lot of teams to 10-2+.

Examples. Bama played 3 ranked (at the end) teams in conference play (2-1). A&M played one (0-1).
 
bpob55

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www.sportsbusinessjournal.com

NCAA weighs starting college football season a week earlier

Sources said that an NCAA committee is moving toward recommending that the college football season start a week earlier, potentially as soon as 2027, shifting all teams to the late-August Week 0 to ensure two idle weeks within a 12-game schedule.
www.sportsbusinessjournal.com www.sportsbusinessjournal.com

Sounds like this has a full head of steam for the 2027 season. Adding an extra week before conference play likely helps the Irish with scheduling, as there are more weeks for other teams to fill in the typical non-conference window.

We already have strong September schedules with dates built for the next six years. Now, we will have the opportunity to supplement that with another August game. I don't see how this is not a big plus for future Irish schedules.

The USC series ended because they would only play us in August. The Michigan series ended because they would only play us in September. Allow me to enter fantasy land for a moment:

Last weekend of August: USC
First weekend of September: G5/bye
Second weekend of September: Premier B10/SEC game
Third weekend of September: G5/bye
Fourth weekend of September: Michigan

This way, we continue our two best rivalries annually and are left with 7/8 games to schedule over 9 weeks. Taking into account the 5 required ACC games, the annual Clemson game, and the annual Navy game, this really helps take the pressure off the athletic department to form a strong independent schedule.
 
stlnd01

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It’s annoying because Clemson - in years we played them - has been one of the rare opportunities to play a meaningful game in November. Now we’ll play them every year but not in November.

If we can’t get USC back, we really need to get some sort of Thanksgiving weekend deal with Miami. At least end there half the years.
 
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