Opponent Watch: Cardinal Sin Edition

Each week in this space, we examine two things: Notre Dame’s strength of schedule (from USA Today‘s Sagarin rankings), and who Irish opponents are facing. For those of who want to scout future opponents, I’ll give you my recommendation for who to watch when you’re not watching Notre Dame Football.

Who To Watch

Stanford at Southern Cal (Sat 8:00pm ET ABC)

Southern Cal QB Cody Kessler
(Photo: AP)

After Notre Dame & Georgia Tech finishes (hopefully the final score won’t be a buzzkill), jump to ABC for a treemendous Pac-12 clash. The Trojans wrapped up two dominating wins against Idaho & Arkansas State, while Stanford fell to Northwestern in week one and had trouble scoring. USC’s defense doesn’t horse around, but their offense has been besieged by attrition the last few years.

Strength-of-Schedule Rankings

Rank	Team	Record	Weekly Change
3	Virginia	0-2	+15
25	Texas	1-1	-20
37	Notre Dame	2-0	+30
38	Stanford	1-1	-10
45	Temple	2-0	+30
60	Massachusetts	0-1	+140
135	Clemson	2-0	+7
137	Pittsburgh	2-0	-28
152	Wake Forest	1-1	+39
167	Southern Cal	2-0	-50
207	Georgia Tech	2-0	-18
227	Boston College	2-0	-70
228	Navy	1-0	-46