Notre Dame is the popular pick to win the national championship, but if Week 0 showed us anything, it is that their “easy” schedule might be more complicated than folks thought. Two of their future opponents already grabbed wins, adding some early spice to what was supposed to be a stroll into the playoffs.
Early Shocks and Grinds
First up, the North Carolina Tar Heels went down to Dublin, Ireland, and grinded out a 15-10 win against TCU in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic on August 29, 2026. That is a road win on a neutral site, technically, but still. You see Derek McDonald, their #15, laying a hit on Jeremy Payne, #26 for TCU, and you know these guys are for real. UNC is sitting at 1-0, feeling good, and already looking like a team that will not just roll over when the Irish come calling. Then you have the Stanford Cardinal. They handled Hawaii with a 37-27 victory, also moving to a clean 1-0. A ten-point win is not a blowout, but it gets the job done. These are not cupcake wins. These are real results from teams that Notre Dame will face later in the season. Folks were saying this schedule was anything but hard. Well, two teams already proved they know how to win. It is making that ‘easy’ label look a little flimsy, you know?
Ranked Threats Lurking
And it is not just the teams that played Week 0. When you look deeper into the schedule, you see some real threats that did not even need to kick off yet to prove their standing. The Miami Hurricanes are rolling into the season ranked #7 in the AP Poll. That is a top 10 team, straight up. Then you have the BYU Cougars sitting at #14, another legitimate ranked squad. And do not sleep on the SMU Mustangs either, who are coming in at #19. Even the Navy Midshipmen are out there, gathering ‘VOTES’ in the AP Poll. These are not pushovers. This is not some ‘guaranteed W’ lineup for the Irish, no matter how many times they are favored. When you stack up a #7, a #14, and a #19, plus a couple of 1-0 teams, that ‘not tough’ narrative starts to unravel pretty fast. Yes, the Irish are picked to win it all, but they are going to earn it against this crop of teams.
The Wisconsin Badgers, Rice Owls, Michigan State Spartans, Purdue Boilermakers, Boston College Eagles, and Syracuse Orange still have their Week 0 results pending, waiting to show what they bring to the table. But the early returns are already painting a picture of a schedule that could absolutely get ‘trickier,’ just like some folks were whispering. Notre Dame is the national championship favorite for a reason, but they will need to be locked in every single week. It is going to be wild to watch how these opponent records stack up as the season rolls on and if that ‘not tough’ label gets completely shredded by November.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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