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

Virginia Tech at Tennessee (Sat 8:00 PM ET ABC)

Well, after all of the dizzying disorientation of Sunday night, I’m recommending a football game encircled by a racetrack. The Hokies will get the green flag against the orange-clad Volunteers, and we’ll see if the Tennessee hype machine is clicking on all cylinders. Hopefully this novelty will be a nice cool down lap from a victory over Nevada, but my internal caution flags wave every time I think about Brian VanGorder’s defense….

Strength-of-Schedule Rankings

Last week, ND opponents went 11-1 with an average schedule strength of 116. Texas had the toughest win (sad face), USC had the toughest loss (Alabama), and Miami had the easiest win over Florida Atlantic.

Rank	Team	Record	Weekly Change
1	Southern Cal	0-1	—
24	Notre Dame	0-1	—
30	Texas	1-0	—
62	Stanford	1-0	—
80	Army	1-0	—
127	NC State	1-0	—
149	Nevada	1-0	—
151	Virginia Tech	1-0	—
162	Syracuse	1-0	—
164	Navy	1-0	—
168	Michigan State	1-0	—
185	Duke	1-0	—
205	Miami	1-0	—

Upcoming Opponents

• Syracuse vs Louisville (Fri 8:00 PM ET ESPN2)
• NC State at East Carolina (Sat 12:00 PM ET )
• Army vs Rice (Sat 12:00 PM ET CBS Sports Network)
• Southern Cal vs Utah State (Sat 2:00 PM ET Pac-12 Network)
• Duke vs Wake Forest (Sat 3:30 PM ET ESPNU)
• Navy vs Connecticut (Sat 3:30 PM ET CBS Sports Network)
• Miami vs Florida Atlantic (Sat 6:00 PM ET ACC Network)

Past Opponents

• Texas vs UTEP (Sat 7:00 PM ET Longhorn Network)