The Biggest Takeaway from Notre Dame Missing the CFP: Schedule Easier Opponents

The biggest surprise of the College Football Playoff was Notre Dame being left out, but no matter how much it may hurt to hear, the Fighting Irish are 100% to blame. No, not the committee. Notre Dame.

And it's not because the Irish lost their first two games of the season, but rather because of who they chose to play.

Give Notre Dame credit, they played one tough schedule. At Miami (FL), vs. Texas A&M, vs. Boise State and vs. USC. Miami and Texas A&M made the CFP, USC is a top 25 team, and Boise State won nine games and its third straight Mountain West Championship after taking it to UNLV on Friday.

But none of that matters. The main reason ND missed out on the CFP is that the Irish lost twice. It doesn't matter that both teams the Irish lost to made the CFP and that Texas A&M was undefeated going into its final regular-season game. Whether it should or shouldn't matter is a topic for a different day, but one thing is crystal clear: the committee doesn't care who you beat; it only cares how many games you lose.

So, what does Notre Dame need to do moving forward to avoid this predicament again? Schedule much easier teams, especially early in the season. Take last year, for example. Despite losing to Northern Illinois, ND still made the playoff. Why? Because their schedule was easier. Don't get me wrong, ND's schedule was tough last year, but not nearly as tough as it was this year.

First thing ND needs to do is stop playing SEC schools. Even the lower-tier SEC programs like Mississippi State and Kentucky. Stop playing them. Eliminate one of the ACC games on your schedule. Doesn't matter who, Clemson, Louisville, Pittsburgh, or Boston College. Five to six ACC games are one to two too many.

So, who should the Fighting Irish schedule then? Ideally, another armed forces school -- Army or Air Force -- and either a MAC team or one of the two teams -- Washington State or Oregon State -- still keeping the Pac-12 afloat. Or why not go with an FCS opponent like Indiana did?

Speaking of Indiana. They're the first to take this approach, and guess what? It worked in their favor. IU's schedule to begin the season was a joke -- vs. Old Dominion, Kennesaw State, and Indiana State. But opting to play teams of that caliber only benefited the Hoosiers in the long run.

There was that winning the Big Ten Championship thing that helped, but the team did get to ease into the season.

The Hoosiers were supposed to play Louisville in 2024 and 2025, but squashed that series. And IU did the same thing with Virginia. Indiana was supposed to play the Cavaliers in 2027 and 2028, but instead scheduled FCS opponents in Eastern Illinois and Austin Peay, and Kennesaw State, who has only been an FBS program for two years.

It's definitely a bad look to squash a series at the last minute, but you can't say it's not the smart approach, which is why ND needs to swallow its pride and get on the phone ASAP and start altering its schedule.