Opponent Watch: Crosstown Rival 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

Southern Cal (5-5) at UCLA (2-8) Sat 3:30 PM ET on Fox

via GIPHY

There’s only one opponent left on the 2018 schedule after this week — where, loyal reader, has the time gone? If you watch the Irish kick at 2:30pm ET you’ll likely only catch the last little bit following the conclusion of the Yankee Stadium special, but that’s good because the quality of this game will be *not good*. The Rose Bowl deserves better football than this.

Also this Week

Past Opponents

Ball State (3-7) vs Western Michigan (Tue 12:00 AM ET, )
Northwestern (6-4) at Minnesota (Sat 12:00 PM ET, Big Ten Network)
Pittsburgh (6-4) at Wake Forest (5-5) (Sat 12:00 PM ET, ACC Network)
Florida State (4-6) vs Boston College (Sat 3:30 PM ET, ESPN2)
Virginia Tech (4-5) vs Miami (Sat 3:30 PM ET, ESPN)
Navy (2-8) vs Tulsa (Sat 3:30 PM ET, CBS Sports Network)
Michigan (9-1) vs Indiana (Sat 4:00 PM ET, Fox Sports 1)
Stanford (6-4) at California (Sat 7:30 PM ET, Pac-12 Network)
Vanderbilt (4-6) vs Ole Miss (Sat 7:30 PM ET, SEC Network)

Strength-of-Schedule Rankings

Last week, ND opponents went 6-5. On the year, opponents have a combined record of 62-57 (52.1%) with an average schedule strength of 40.

Rank	Team		Record	Weekly Change
4		Northwestern	6-4	↑ 7
16		Stanford	6-4	↓ 10
22		Pittsburgh	6-4	↓ 5
25		Florida State	4-6	↑ 10
26		Vanderbilt	4-6	↑ 7
29		Southern Cal	5-5	↓ 7
36		Michigan	9-1	↓ 18
40		Wake Forest	5-5	↑ 8
48		Virginia Tech	4-5	↑ 3
49		Notre Dame	10-0	↓ 3
60		Navy	2-8	↑ 4
77		Syracuse	8-2	↓ 3
95		Ball State	3-7	↓ 5