What is Notre Dame's Biggest Trap Game of 2026?

If you've heard anything from a national perspective regarding Notre Dame football this off-season, it's probably been about its schedule.

No, I'm not here to defend Notre Dame's schedule, as the thing is a large pile of rubbish.

There is Miami and there is a trip to BYU. Perhaps SMU will be interesting, but it's made up of a bunch of teams Notre Dame should beat by three touchdowns or more.

That's not a knock on Notre Dame, as Miami is playing an even weaker slate this fall, but it doesn't mean there shouldn't be at least some concern over some of these games.

Heck, this is a Notre Dame squad that has performed entirely different in September under Marcus Freeman than during any other month.

So of Notre Dame's opponents, which is most likely to prove to be a trap game, and make things more uncomfortable for the Fighting Irish than we'd probably first think?

Notre Dame's Potential Speed Bump - Setting the Guidelines

When I say "trap game" I'm not saying the toughest game.

That will without a doubt be against Miami on November 7 as the Hurricanes will be in the discussion to be preseason No. 1 nationally.

Instead, which game that Notre Dame is expected to win relatively easily, will it have the most problems with? Or which should it be most prepared for?

With that in mind, I'm removing Miami, BYU, and the SMU games from the conversation as all will be against teams that will likely begin the season ranked in the top 25.

Notre Dame's Sleeper Matchups - Eliminating a Handful

Again, I'm not trying to say Notre Dame's schedule is that much more difficult than its being advertised as. Instead, you see college football teams stumble all the time, so which is most likely to see Notre Dame sleepwalk through and end up being in a battle late?

Of the nine remaining games, I'm eliminating a few right away:

Sept. 12 vs. Rice
Sept. 26 at Purdue
Oct. 10 vs. Stanford
Oct. 31 vs. Navy (Foxborough, Mass.)
Nov. 14 vs. Boston College
Nov. 28 at Syracuse

Three were already elimated for not being actual "trap game" type candidates, and these five I add for a variety of reasons:

Rice: simply a bad football team. This is one Notre Dame should be able to pick any number for and put it on the scoreboard.

Purdue: The Boilermakers haven't beaten a Power Four/Five team since November of 2023 and that streak certainly isn't going to end when Notre Dame comes to town.

Stanford: Drew Pyne isn't taking snaps so the 2022 debacle won't be repeated.

Navy: Notre Dame has outscored Navy 142-27 over the last three years combined. It won't be close again this Halloween.

Boston College: Boston College is awful and playing for a coach that feels like he's playing out the round at this point. A demoralized Boston College team won't prove to be much of a threat come November.

Syracuse: The Orange aren't as bad as last year's game in South Bend would make you believe, but I buy into what Marcus Freeman gets out of his team as the year goes on. This game being the final week of the regular season does no favors for Syracuse as I expect Notre Dame to roll.

Notre Dame's Sleeper Matchup - The Real Contenders

Nine of the 12 games for 2026 have already been mentioned so let's get to the two runners up.

Sept. 6 vs. Wisconsin (Green Bay)
Oct. 3 at North Carolina

Wisconsin plays and beats LSU at Lambeau Field in 201 — Wisconsin Badgers red and LSU Tigers purple fill Lambeau Field on Sept. 3. 2017 | USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Wisconsin: It's clearly a make or break season for Luke Fickell at Wisconsin, as things have gone south in a hurry for both. It's not a home game for the Badgers, but it's in their home state and all the pressure is on Notre Dame. I expect this to be much like the 2019 opener at Louisville: Notre Dame will ultimately win comfortably, but I expect some turbulance early.

North Carolina: Call me crazy but I don't see North Carolina being nearly as embarrassing under Bill Belichick in Year Two. Maybe I'm sipping the Kool-Aid a bit. Now I don't think North Carolina will be great by any means, but a trip there in early October feels like it could give more issues than expected.

Notre Dame's Sleeper Matchup - The Realest Threat

Consider this a result of a formula of history, bad blood, and scar tissue.

Notre Dame has struggled in September's under Marcus Freeman. It's not to say it always will, but the Irish are just .667 in August and September under Freeman, compared to .837% in every other month.

Now throw in a game against Michigan State, which I understand has fallen on hard times, but who actually has an experienced coach who has walked into Notre Dame Stadium with a severely undermanned team and won before?

It's not that I fear Pat Fitzgerald or Michigan State by any means, but if my 35 or so years of watching Notre Dame has taught me anything, it's that Sept. 19 is going to be a lot more stressful than it probably should be for the Fighting Irish faithful.

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