Will Teams Shy Away From Scheduling Notre Dame In Nonconference Play?

As Miami and Texas sit on the outside looking in to the College Football Playoff, some have questioned the value of scheduling marquee nonconference games.

Miami opened the year with a 27-24 win over Notre Dame, yet the Hurricanes came in at No. 12 –– two spots behind the Irish –– in the latest CFP rankings. Texas lost 14-7 at Ohio State the same weekend, and the Longhorns are even further back at No. 13.

On Tuesday, Alabama announced it is moving its nonconference game against South Florida, a playoff contender for most of the year, to the 2032 season. The Crimson Tide will instead play Chattanooga next season, while also adding East Carolina to the 2026 schedule. Alabama threw in a game against Marshall in 2027 as part of the announcement.

That sparked a response from ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit.

"Get ready to see this happen all over the sport," Herbstreit posted on X. "If it’s only about how many wins ya have and not who you’re playing and where you’re playing you’re gonna see every AD make these same moves. Kiss meaningful non conference games in late August and early September goodbye. Cupcakes moving forward till teams get to conference play."

What this means for Notre Dame

If Herbstreit is correct, that could be a significant blow to Notre Dame's future scheduling efforts as an independent.

The Irish are set to play Miami again in 2026, along with Big Ten foes Wisconsin, Michigan State, Purdue and USC. They also have SEC teams like Auburn, Arkansas, Alabama and Texas scheduled at various points through the 2029 season. If enough teams back out, Notre Dame's strength of schedule could consistently hurt its chance of making the College Football Playoff.

But there's a major flaw in Herbstreit's argument. Miami scheduling and beating Notre Dame is the best part of its resume. If Miami didn't have that win, it'd be even further from the 12-team field.

And Texas? They're not out because they lost at now-No. 1 Ohio State. That game is doing a lot to prop up the Longhorns' No. 8 strength of schedule. What's keeping Texas out of the CFP is its 29-21 loss to a 4-8 Florida team, a game Texas trailed 10-0 in the first quarter and 22-7 late in the third.

Texas didn't do itself any favors by getting smoked 35-10 at Georgia, either. Needing overtime to beat a 5-7 Kentucky team and a 5-7 Mississippi State team are detriments, too.

Florida Football — The Florida Gators line up against the Texas Longhorns at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

On Tuesday, CFP chair Hunter Yurachek confirmed as much when asked, "Is the thing hurting Texas the most the loss to Florida, or is there some other factor?

"You're spot on. The committee has a great deal of respect for Texas and they've played an incredible schedule," Yurachek said. "They've got four teams they played in our top 10. They beat OU on a neutral field. They just beat Texas A&M at home this past weekend. They lost to No. 1, Ohio State, and lost to No. 3, Georgia."

"But one key stat this week in the teams ranked in our top 15, there's 17 total losses for those teams. 16 of those losses came against teams that are currently ranked or have been ranked in our top 25 this year. The only loss to an unranked team was Texas's loss to Florida at Florida, and really Florida dominated that game, held Texas to 50 yards rushing, two interceptions. So it's not that Texas played Ohio State; it is Texas' loss to Florida that's holding them back now."

So from Notre Dame's perspective, it's not time to panic about being able to build a difficult nonconference schedule yet. Miami needed its win over Notre Dame to have any chance at the playoff, and Texas is out because it lost to Florida, not Ohio State.

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