Did a Week 0 Upset Just Change the Outlook for Notre Dame’s Schedule?

Much has been made about Notre Dame's schedule as it gets ready to start the 2026 season.

It features three teams ranked in the preseason top 20, but after that falls off in quite a hurry.

Did an upset in Week 0 of the college football season change how Notre Dame's schedule is about to be viewed, though?

It's at least something to keep in mind following Saturday's first offering of FBS games.

North Carolina Upsets TCU in Dublin

The first game of the day was North Carolina, who handed TCU a 15-10 defeat in Ireland.

That win might not sound overly impressive, and if you watched the game then you saw anything but a pretty contest. However, it does instantly paint North Carolina in a much better light than it entered the season in.

Bill Belichick's first year at North Carolina couldn't have gone any worse. It was so bad that Saturday's 12-10 halftime lead over TCU was the first time the Tar Heels have led a Power Four opponent at halftime during his tenure.

Perhaps the most impressive part of the game for North Carolina was that allowed just 2.7 yards per carry. Yes, it turned into a slop fest that slowed the track, but this is a team gave up nearly 25 points per game a year ago.

What a difference a year makes for Bill Belichick & North Carolina📈 pic.twitter.com/D1WR2gfp0u
— PFF College (@PFF_College) August 29, 2026

I'm not saying North Carolina is going to be great and suddenly compete to make a run to the ACC Championship game, but it certainly looked like a team capable of finishing much higher than the 15th position it was predicted to in the ACC before the year.

Notre Dame travels to North Carolina on October 3, one week after playing at Purdue.

Other Week 0 Notre Dame Notes

Notre Dame has not played in Week 0 since routing Navy 42-3 in Ireland back in 2023.

One other Notre Dame opponent for the 2026 season is in action Saturday, as Stanford hosts Hawai'i in late evening action.

Stanford is looking to turn a corner this season as it hasn't qualified for a bowl game since the 2018 season.

Former (and future) Notre Dame rival USC is not on the schedule again until 2030, but got off to a solid start as it took care of business against San Jose State as expected.

One thing of note in that game is that Notre Dame vs. USC in 90-degree Los Angeles weather in 2030 is certainly going to be a strange thing to observe.

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