5 Takeaways That Define Notre Dame’s Newly Released Schedule

2026 will be a season of massive expectations for Notre Dame as Marcus Freeman's squad will enter the year as one of the nation's favorites to win a national championship.

Ahead of the season, Notre Dame officially released its schedule for it on Friday. We already knew the 12 teams that would be on it, but in what order and when the off week would be were not entirely known.

Below is the full official schedule and five quick thoughts on how it shapes up for the Fighting Irish in 2026.

Notre Dame 2026 Football Schedule

Notre Dame players celebrate a win over Navy in 202 — Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman, center, celebrates with his players after winning a NCAA football game 49-10 against Navy at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, in South Bend. | MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Sept. 6 - vs. Wisconsin (Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Shamrock Series)
Sept. 12 - vs. Rice
Sept. 19 - vs. Michigan State
Sept. 26 - at Purdue
Oct. 3 - at North Carolina
Oct. 10 - vs. Stanford
Oct. 17 - at BYU
Oct. 24 - Off Week
Oct. 31 - vs. Navy (Gillette Stadium, Foxborough)
Nov. 7 - vs. Miami
Nov. 14 - vs. Boston College
Nov. 21 - vs. SMU
Nov. 28 - at Syracuse

5 Quick Thoughts on Notre Dame's Schedule

3 Ranked Opponents from End of 2025 Season

Notre Dame plays three teams that finished the 2025 season ranked (BYU, Miami, and Navy). That seems laughable, right? At least according to the national folks that get paid the big bucks to talk about such things.

Consider this: Miami's only scheduled game for 2026 against a team that finish this season ranked is against...DING DING DING...Notre Dame.

Texas Tech plays two such games: TCU and Houston.

BYU, Indiana, and Oregon all play three as well. I say this just as a warning to not throw stones if you're living in a glass house...

Incredibly Friendly Start for Notre Dame

Although no fault of their own, Notre Dame's schedule begins with what should be an incredibly easy stretch.

Of the first six teams Notre Dame plays in 2026, exactly zero of them finished last year with fewer than eight losses. That's not to say they'll all be as bad in 2026, but its safe to say none of those six are entering 2026 with expectations higher than possibly making a bowl game.

A Compelling Senior Day for First Time in a While

Notre Dame gets SMU for senior day, the second to last week of the season. This will be the first time Notre Dame plays an actual compelling opponent in its final true home game since what, 2017 against Navy or 2016 against Virginia Tech?

There was a Florida State game in there in 2018, but that Seminoles squad was awful.

Syracuse Replaces California Trip

For the first time since 2003, Notre Dame's final regular season game of the year isn't scheduled to be played in California. With no trip to USC to close the year, Notre Dame now heads to Syracuse, New York to close the year.

Not exactly wine country.

12-0 or Bust

One look at this schedule and the following is clear: Go 12-0 or its a disappointment. Yes, the trip to BYU will be tough. Yes, Miami will bring back a loaded roster when it comes to South Bend this year.

If you're going to truly "leave no doubt" like Marcus Freeman has told his team, then 12-0 is a must, and the majority of those games shouldn't be compelling after halfway through the second quarter.