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Stanford Cardinal running back Christian McCaffrey (5) runs the ball against Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker Joe Schmidt (38) during the second half at Stanford Stadium. Credit: Gary A. Vasquez/USA TODAY Sports

Opponent Watch: Friday Night Lights

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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 Washington (Fri 9:00 PM ET ESPN)

Stanford-mascotYou may want to see a good football team with rigorous academic standards this weekend. If so, then tune in Friday night to watch Stanford. This is shaping up to be a play-in game for the Pac-12 championship and, as you can see below, Stanford has been doing it against the sixth-toughest schedule in the country. Christian McCaffrey isn’t getting the hype of Louisville’s Lamar Jackson, and he disappeared for a good stretch against UCLA last week. But as the calendar turns to October, an undefeated Cardinal will keep McCaffrey in the national spotlight. You can cheer for Stanford here, but know that you’ll be seeing this team take on Notre Dame in a couple weeks. Hopefully, the Irish defense on October 15 bears little resemblance to the defense we’ve seen thus far.

Strength-of-Schedule Rankings

Last week, ND opponents went 3-6. On the year, opponents have a combined record of 27-16 (62.8%) with an average schedule strength of 75.

Rank

Team

Record

Weekly Change
1 Southern Cal 1-3 —
6 Stanford 3-0 +1
21 Michigan State 2-1 +59
29 Notre Dame 1-3 -7
39 Syracuse 2-2 -13
50 Duke 2-2 +54
51 Texas 2-1 -8
74 Virginia Tech 3-1 -4
98 Nevada 2-2 -1
138 Navy 3-0 +6
139 Army 3-1 -16
152 NC State 2-1 -14
174 Miami 3-0 +10

Other Upcoming Opponents

  • Miami at Georgia Tech (Sat 12:00 PM ET ESPN2)
  • NC State vs Wake Forest (Sat 3:30 PM ET ACC Network)
  • Navy at Air Force (Sat 3:30 PM ET CBS Sports Network)
  • Southern Cal vs Arizona State (Sat 8:30 PM ET Fox)

Past Opponents

  • Texas at Oklahoma State (Sat 12:00 PM ET ABC)
  • Duke vs Virginia (Sat 12:30 PM ET ACC Network)
  • Michigan State at Indiana (Sat 8:00 PM ET Big Ten Network)
  • Nevada at Hawaii (Sat 11:59 PM ET )
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