Notre Dame released its 2023 football schedule on Wednesday, and it was a very intriguing slate for the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame already knew its 12 opponents, but now the order in which the games will be played during the second year of the Marcus Freeman era is now is known.
In our most recent show we broke down the schedule and talked about it from a number of angles.
We begin the show discussing whether or not this is the kind of schedule that gives Notre Dame a chance to compete for a title. That means it's challenging enough to allow the Irish to rise up the rankings and make the College Football Playoff, even with a loss. It also means one that isn't so overly challenging that you cannot manage and get to 11-12 wins.
Next we discuss the bye weeks that were placed in the schedule. It has been a hot topic for years, with many arguing that bye weeks are somehow this magic potion to success. We discussed how we normally like bye weeks (one early and one late if there are two, or in the middle if there's one), but with this week's schedule we discussed why we like the late byes.
Notre Dame's early season schedule, which contains Tennessee State and Central Michigan, should be one that allows the Irish to get into the first bye week (Oct. 21) with plenty of opportunities to rest and not get worn down too early. Notre Dame then plays two games, gets another bye and then plays two games to end the regular season. This setup should allow Notre Dame to be more fresh in November, and we also like having the bye week after playing Clemson, not before.
We then dive into different aspects of the schedule, including the trap game, toughest stretch and other interesting aspects of the schedule.
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