Notre Dame Football in Week 0: Should It Happen More Often?

College football gets underway this weekend with a semi-decent Week 0 slate.

Virginia taking on NC State is probably the best matchup of the weekend, while longtime Notre Dame rival USC takes on San Jose State, the team that replaced the Fighting Irish on its schedule this season.

Notre Dame isn't participating in Week 0 games. The last time it occurred was when it routed Navy 42-3 in Dublin to kickoff the 2023 season.

With the action getting underway this weekend, though, the question is worth asking: as a Notre Dame fan, do you wish it played during Week 0 more often?

Biggest Benefit to Playing in Week 0

Yes, playing in Week 0 would mean we have a whole week less to wait to see Notre Dame football in action. With the hype and countdowns to this season, I don't think anyone would complain about that in Notre Dame land.

However, that ignores the biggest benefit of playing a game in Week 0.

When you play Week 0, that means you get an extra off week during the season to heal up or prepare for upcoming opponents.

It's like getting an extra week to take a semester-long class. If you use the time right, it can be of great benefit during the regular season, compared to the vast majority of teams that have to play 12 regular-season games in one less week.

When Notre Dame started the season in Week 0 back in 2023, my biggest gripe was that it didn't use an extra off week to its advantage early in the year.

Despite having the extra off week, it took until mid-October following the USC game to have an off week. That off week finally came after a stretch that included a highly emotional game against Ohio State, followed up by a trip to Duke that was the same.

Surprising to few looking back, Notre Dame was routed by Louisville on the road the next week, and beat up an unbeaten USC team before finally getting a break.

It's impossible to know how different that season would have looked had their been an off week before playing Ohio State, but I have trouble thinking Notre Dame loses to both Ohio State and Louisville that year, had off weeks been used more wisely.

The Disadvantages of Playing Week 0 in College Football

The disadvantages are there as well if you decide to play in Week 0.

Yes, it takes NCAA approval to not overload the schedule, that's why its still seen as Week 0 despite games being played, but a few things aren't for the better.

The college football season has turned into a marathon in recent years. The national championship is slated for January 25 this season.

If you're to play in Week 0, that means you've got almost five months of games from when the season starts to when it concludes.

Even with the extra off week, that's a marathon and exhausting.

Factor in that you start practice a week earlier you're playing in Week 0 and that shortens your off-season that is already the shortest it's ever been in most cases.

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Thoughts

I think Notre Dame does it right with how it schedules the start of the season in most cases.

Unlike the vast majority of college football, there is an opponent with an actual pulse that Notre Dame lines up across from in most cases.

And that happens far more often away from Notre Dame Stadium, than it does at home.

It also usually happens in primetime at some point during Labor Day weekend, either on Saturday or Sunday night.

Even with Wisconsin being down compared to what it traditionally is, Notre Dame will get millions of eyeballs on it when it plays in Lambeau Field on the night of September 6.

It's Notre Dame's way of making a splash the first weekend of the college football season, and playing a likely no-name opponent in Week 0 wouldn't have the same impact.

In a rare case, I'm for Notre Dame playing a Week 0 game, but with the caveat that it manages the rest of its schedule much more wisely than it did in 2023.

As Tom Petty said, "The waiting is the hardest part", but when it comes to Notre Dame football in 2026, having to wait another week from now, unlike a couple of handfuls of others in the sport, isn't necessarily a bad thing.

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