Ryan Custer

People love to shit on Notre Dame for their "cupcake" schedule. Is it really all that cupcake? Let's discuss: *Keep in mind, these games are scheduled years in advance* WK 1 @ Miami WK 2 vs Texas A&M WK 3 vs Purdue - Let's stop there. ND opens the year on the road against a big boy program. I salute any team who starts their season with a road game. Ohio State didn't have a road game till week 5. Missouri didn't have a road game till week 7 (!) Even Bama gets credit in my book for going to Tallahassee. Then ND turns right around with an SEC opponent. Objectively the hardest first two weeks in CFB. Then they get their cupcake. It's too bad Purdue fell off a cliff after Brohm left. This is an ND rival and will usually be on their schedule. WK 4 @ Arkansas - Stop! Okay, so another road game AND another SEC team. In the previous 4 years Arkansas' record is 27-24. They are an above average team. This is not "easy" on the surface when ND scheduled this game. Too bad they ended up being a disaster. WK 5 vs Boise State - Stop again!!! Okay, is Boise State not a respectable non-P4 team? I'd argue they are one of the best you can play against. A 9 win team that won their conference this year and went to playoff last year. Cupcake? Pfff. WK 6 vs NC State - STOP!!! So, this is one of the five ACC teams ND rotates between ever year, and it's a bummer that the Wolfpack had a down year. NC State wen't 8-4 and 9-3 between 2022-23. Again, when the team is scheduled, you think you're getting legit opponent. Don't forget that they did beat Georgia Tech! WK 7 vs USC - Another big boy program and rival of ND that will always be on their schedule. Through 7 weeks, when you consider ND made this schedule a few years ago, you're telling me this is "cupcake"...? Come on man. ND wasn't trying to take the easy road here. And you're full of shit for pushing that narrative. WK 8 @ BC WK 9 Navy WK 10 @ Pitt - The second cupcake opponent with BC. Similar to Purdue, old rival of ND will usually be on their schedule. Sucks that their program has become an embarrassment. Navy isn't fun to play ever, and Pitt had a good year. WK 11 vs Syracuse WK vs Stanford - Totally sucks that Steve Angeli got hurt. This would have been a fun revenge game, and Cuse would not have been a joke of a team. They beat Clemson on the road, don't forget! And then Stanford man...fucking Stanford. They are killing ND's SOS more than anyone. Used to be a solid 8-9 win team. Long gone are the days of Andrew Luck and CMC. I think ND should move on from this rivalry. For an independent team, I think ND did a fine job trying to make their schedule competitive. You don't see a Grambling, Bethune Cookman, or Sam Houston St. Haters will always hate.