The Notre Dame Schedule: Too Difficult?
UHND.com - Brian
Scanlon
May 1, 2001
As the college football season begins each September, it quickly becomes apparent that other universities possess somewhat different philosophies when it comes to scheduling. For example, as the number of wins for Kansas State has increased over the last 10 years, so too has the amount of criticism regarding its strength of schedule. It would not be unusual to find several Louisiana schools with a direction in their name, as well as the likes of Temple, Ball State, North Texas, Utah State and UTEP appearing on the Wildcats schedules. The scores of these games often get out of hand quickly, resulting in sometimes 50 to 60 point margins of victory for the Cats. Second and third stringers are often playing by the middle of the second quarter. These games are basically nothing more than glorified scrimmages of one superior team beating up on a vastly inferior opponent.
Living in Kansas City and having a number of K-State friends, I often find myself in friendly, yet heated arguments concerning the Wildcats and their strength of schedule. While the scheduling of numerous patsies every year may have been acceptable 15 years ago, after all K-State was considered the worst team in the history of college football at that time, it simply does not hold water today. Having contended for a National title the last few years and having been consistently in the top 10, Kansas State is now a legitimate football powerhouse. They are no longer trying to become one of the best teams in the country, they are one of the best teams in the country. Therefore, the days of playing ‘Little Sisters of the Poor’ should be in the past. There is simply no excuse for it. The scheduling of Southern Cal for the 2001 and 2002 seasons is a step in the right direction, however.
While the Wildcats are probably the biggest offender of scheduling these lopsided match-ups, they are by no means the only offender. A majority of top-tiered football schools in the country are guilty of scheduling at least two cupcakes in the early part of their schedules each year in order to get off to a positive start and get a couple of w's in the win column. The Nebraska Cornhuskers for example, have found it necessary to schedule the mighty football power of Troy State for their second game of the 2001 season. If you detect a little bit of sarcasm in my previous statement, you would be correct. I have never heard of Troy State nor do I know where it is located. I have heard however, that this year will be their first year in Division I. I think it will be safe to say that this game will be completely laughable. I believe the point spread of the Husker’s game last year with San Jose State was 50 points. Might the game with Troy State approach 60? I can only pray that we, as college football fans, are not subjected to a television broadcast of this game.
Being the Irish fan that I am, this article would not be complete if I wasn't at least a little bit critical of Florida State’s schedule, even if they did have the 2nd strongest schedule in the final BCS standings last year. The case of the Seminoles is a little bit different in that they already play in a very weak conference, something they have little control over. They regularly play teams such as Wake Forest, North Carolina, NC State, and Duke although the inclusion of Miami, and Florida greatly contributed to them having that strong schedule ranking. As much as I hate to admit it, Florida State has been and still is a dominant football power and definitely deserves the label ‘Team of the ‘90’s.’ This is just another reason why their scheduling of the University of Alabama-Birmingham for the 2001 season is so preposterous.
So, I return to my original question, "Is Notre Dame’s schedule too difficult?" The 2000 schedule was supposed to be extremely difficult. After the 5-7 season in 1999, some people even predicted that Notre Dame would go 0-5 in its first five games. Instead, the Irish went 3-2 and because some usually strong teams had what could be considered a ‘down year’, most notably USC and Texas A&M, the schedule ended up being not as challenging as originally perceived. The fact remains that Notre Dame plays traditional powers every year with the belief that in order to be the best, you have to beat the best. The overall success of their opponents in any given year is something that the Irish, or any team for that matter have little control. They can only hope to take care of their own business, and hope that their opponents do the same.
Notre Dame’s final strength of schedule ranking for the 2000 season was 25th while the Kansas State Wildcats had the 29th toughest schedule in the country. At first glance, one might argue that the schedules of these two programs were fairly similar. Nothing could be further from the truth. As I previously stated, Notre Dame’s schedule included a majority of top-level football programs where on any given year, a number of them could be ranked in the top 10 to 15. The Wildcats on the other hand, opened their season against a weak Iowa team, followed by Louisiana Tech, Ball State and North Texas. Not exactly murderers row. The combined score of these first four games was 212-27 in the Cats favor. The Irish’s strength of schedule was hurt by some traditionally strong programs not performing as expected, while K-State’s was greatly helped by playing national champion Oklahoma twice.
Notre Dame is unlike any other university in the country, possessing a football history unlike any other. Knute Rockne, the Four Horseman, seven Heisman winners and eleven national championships are some of the aspects that make Notre Dame special. I have been especially proud of the fact that the Irish have always been willing to take on anyone, anywhere. I for one, look forward to each Saturday in the fall not just because Notre Dame is playing, but because I know that the game will be entertaining and most likely competitive. I have no problem with the Irish having lop-sided victories, but I want those lop-sided victories to come against quality opponents. The bottom line is that there is nothing wrong with Notre Dame’s schedule. There are some reasons why the Irish have struggled in recent years, but they have little to do with the teams they are playing and more to do with coaching and player development. Once these problems are corrected, the question of scheduling will no longer even be an issue.