Notre Dame plays Duke this week in the first of five matchups with ACC teams this season. Notre Dame has remained independent in football, but plays basketball in the ACC, leading to an agreement to play a handful of ACC football teams every year. Campus Insiders breaks down how the Irish have fared all-time against their new rivals on the East Coast (video above).
This is the third season Notre Dame is contractually obligated to play five ACC opponents and actually the first in which they will play five. Due to previous scheduling conflicts and obligations, Notre Dame played four ACC foes in 2014 and six a year ago.
Here is how Notre Dame has fared against the ACC specifically as part of their agreement to play five a year and join the ACC in other sports.
| Season | Locations | Date | Result | ND Rank | Opponent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Metlife Stadium | 9/27/2014 | W, 31-15 | #8 | SYRACUSE |
| 2014 | Home | 10//11/2014 | W, 50-43 | #6 | NORTH CAROLINA |
| 2014 | Away | 10/18/2014 | L, 27-31 | #5 | #2 FLORIDA STATE |
| 2014 | Home | 11/22/2014 | L, 28-31 | Not Ranked | LOUISVILLE |
| 2015 | Away | 9/12/2015 | W, 34-27 | #9 | VIRGINIA |
| 2015 | Home | 9/19/2015 | W, 30-22 | #8 | #14 GEORGIA TECH |
| 2015 | Away | 10/3/2015 | L, 22-24 | #6 | #12 CLEMSON |
| 2015 | Away | 11/4/2015 | W, 42-30 | #8 | PITT |
| 2015 | Home | 11/14/2015 | W, 28-7 | #6 | WAKE FOREST |
| 2015 | Fenway Park | 11/21/2015 | W, 19-16 | #5 | BOSTON COLLEGE |
Interestingly enough, of the 10 previous games, Notre Dame was ranked in the top 10 for all but one of the contests – the 2014 loss to Louisville. During the span, Notre Dame is 7-3 against the ACC for a winning percentage right around their historical mark against the conference.
Despite the stronger win-loss record against the ACC, Notre Dame has laid some clunkers against their “conference cousins”. Last year the Irish needed a miracle touchdown to Will Fuller in the final seconds to pull of the victory over the unranked Cavaliers. And, while the Stanford loss made the matter moot, lackluster performances against both Wake Forest and Boston College essentially eliminated the Irish from the playoffs with Oklahoma’s late season momentum surging them past Notre Dame in November.
Even against Pitt last year, the Irish had what looked like a blowout win on their hands before allowing two late Panther scores to wipe out any style points they had while building a 42-17 lead.
Duke is the first of five ACC opponents on the schedule this year with Syracuse, NC State, Miami, and Virginia Tech to follow. Of those opponents, only Miami looks likely to be ranked when the Irish play them.
ND will be lucky to have a winning record in the ACC this year. They will lose to both VA Tech and Miami with another possible loss to Syracuse. Thank goodness we don’t have to play Florida State or Louisville!