Annie No. 1 Share Posted yesterday at 02:50 PM Is USC perhaps hoping to get an easier schedule by dropping ND...? USC demands major date change to keep Notre Dame rivalry alive FANSIDED.COM College football fans could lose the late-season Notre Dame-USC rivalry unless it's moved to early in the year. 1 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB89 No. 2 Share Posted yesterday at 03:20 PM I wondered when USC would get smarter with their scheduling. Having a SEC powerhouse in September and then Notre Dame late in the season along with a nine game conference schedule is too difficult of a regular season for todays college football. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JabbaNoBargain No. 3 Share Posted yesterday at 03:51 PM I say good! Hopefully another piece of the puzzle towards joining a conference. They don’t have the incentive to do so right now, but scheduling the likes of WSU and Bowling Green instead of the USC’s of the world might help change their tune….maybe. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Moderator No. 4 Share Posted yesterday at 03:55 PM I'm truly sick of Notre Dame, so sick that I'm saying, "Yay, USC!" In all the formats for the CFP it's, "The conferences and Notre Dame". They have their own network deal??? This is a step forward, I'd love it if the format was being built and Notre Dame was told, "You want to be included, join a conference." 1 3 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 5 Share Posted yesterday at 04:20 PM On 5/20/2025 at 11:20 AM, JB89 said: I wondered when USC would get smarter with their scheduling. Having a SEC powerhouse in September and then Notre Dame late in the season along with a nine game conference schedule is too difficult of a regular season for todays college football. Good question. SC was scheduled to play Ole Miss in LA to open the 2025 season. The two schools agreed to drop the H+H series. Then, Wake Forest cancelled out on a return trip to Ole Miss, leaving the Rebels without a P4 team on the OOC schedule in 2025 unless one considers WAZZU, signed to replace Wake, a P5 team. The SEC requires its member teams to play at least one P4 team out of conference every season. I see no reason why an SC program trying to return to relevance should continue to make things easier for ND to stay independent, and along with Stanford, help ND's recruiting by assuring the Irish a game in California every season. ND is positioned to reach the PO every season and to share its PO revenue with no one else. 1 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike West No. 6 Share Posted yesterday at 06:52 PM I’m opening up to the idea of ND staying independent as long as they play Miami, FSU and Clemson every year. Add USC to the mix and ND is essentially forced to win the majority of their marque games to qualify for the playoffs. Not to mention, it essentially bolsters the ACC significantly. If ND decided to bolster the Big12 in a similar fashion… Anything to maintain some semblance of what College Football was before USC and UCLA recognized the PAC12 was a dead man walking. I would rather see the ACC and Big12 survive than a super conference emerge. I’m not sure how other fans feel, but NFL lite is as anathema to me as being told I have to surrender my citizenship as an American. So ND can actually be the patch the fills the hole in what used to be the best sport on the planet. Not likely to happen, but a mummy like me can still dream. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Moderator No. 7 Share Posted yesterday at 07:27 PM On 5/20/2025 at 11:52 AM, Mike West said: Add USC to the mix and ND is essentially forced to win the majority of their marque games to qualify for the playoffs. Overall, I agree with your idea, it's the "ND is essentially Forced" to win part that rankles me. It should be a given that teams win the majority of their marquee games to qualify for the playoffs. ND should be treated like every other independent. Call their bluff. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie Author No. 8 Share Posted 23 hours ago On 5/20/2025 at 12:27 PM, 30Duck said: ... It should be a given that teams win the majority of their marquee games to qualify for the playoffs.... Does strength of schedule even matter anymore, or just the number of wins? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JabbaNoBargain No. 9 Share Posted 21 hours ago (edited) On 5/20/2025 at 3:17 PM, Annie said: Does strength of schedule even matter anymore, or just the number of wins? Sort of? Two strongest conferences get the most teams in. Seems to generally be assumed 10-2 in the SEC/B1G is better than 10-2 in the ACC/B12, but the sample size isn’t large. Would ND ever qualify at 9-3? Edited 21 hours ago by JabbaNoBargain 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Marsh No. 10 Share Posted 19 hours ago On 5/20/2025 at 3:17 PM, Annie said: Does strength of schedule even matter anymore, or just the number of wins? Hate to say it but strength of schedule hasn't mattered for awhile... Or has been a myth. The SEC was exposed last year and they just pounded their chest and said the SEC is better by default so all their teams are better... Therefore better strength of schedule. It's all about media hype and number of wins. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Moderator No. 11 Share Posted 7 hours ago On 5/20/2025 at 6:30 PM, David Marsh said: It's all about media hype and number of wins. No better example of this than last year's Indiana, a media dream. Out of nowhere, new coach, appealing, somehow. But don't bother to look at the SoS. Just because Finebaum pointed it out doesn't mean it wasn't true. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GatOrlando No. 12 Share Posted 6 hours ago To people under the age of 30 Notre Dame isn't special. They have cool uniforms, a cool stadium and a cool fight song. The "Here Come The Irish" song is awesome, and Rudy is a great movie and real life story. But outside of all that stuff it's just another big name program. The fact that they are given a seat at the CFP negotiating table should make people question why. If the B1G and SEC froze them out would it damage the playoffs? I'm not for the whole NFL style taking hold, but if it did the one positive might be freezing out Notre Dame and forcing them to make a choice. They've played the system great and I commend them for that. But it's time to stop letting them play everyone for fools. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 13 Share Posted 45 minutes ago A take in support of SC dropping Notre Dame. Losing Notre Dame-USC is the price of conference realignment, and it is not the Trojans' fault WWW.SPORTINGNEWS.COM Notre Dame and USC have not come to an agreement to extend their nearly 100-year series, but USC's case for ending it is valid. Having SC on the schedule means more of NBC's money for the Irish and nothing for SC. Money The Irish share with no one. Having SC on the schedule helps with ND's scheduling, even when SC is down, the game's a TV draw, and also helps with ND's recruiting in California. A win-win for ND and not so much for SC. Last season's PO runner-up ND played four G5 opponents. SC is not able to schedule four G6 opponents. And SC plays in a deeper conference than the ACC. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
30Duck Moderator No. 14 Share Posted 37 minutes ago On 5/21/2025 at 1:34 PM, Jon Joseph said: Having SC on the schedule means more of NBC's money for the Irish and nothing for SC. Money The Irish share with no one. Having SC on the schedule helps with ND's scheduling, even when SC is down, the game's a TV draw, and also helps with ND's recruiting in California. A win-win for ND and not so much for SC. This seems to be registering with the national media. ND has lived a dream for long enough. Who knew it would be SC that would sound the alarm. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
