Notre Dame’s future schedule is doing a lot of the talking for the program’s independence.
After a stretch of offseason noise around the Fighting Irish - including the playoff snub and their decision to sit out the Pop-Tarts Bowl - the old argument has picked up again: can an independent Notre Dame keep lining up quality opponents year after year? The answer, at least based on what’s already on the books, looks like a pretty loud yes.
The Irish have already put together a strong run of future matchups, including a 12-year home-and-home series with Clemson, a home-and-home with Auburn in 2027 and 2028, a home-and-home with BYU in 2026 and 2027, and a renewed rivalry with Stanford. That’s not the profile of a program scrambling to fill out its calendar.
And the deeper you look, the more the future slates stand out.
For 2027, Notre Dame’s schedule currently includes Purdue on Sept. 4, a trip to Michigan State on Sept. 18, Auburn on Sept.
25, Kent State on Oct. 2, Wake Forest on Oct. 9, a trip to Clemson on Oct.
30, Virginia Tech on Nov. 6, Navy on Nov. 20 and a trip to Stanford on Nov.
- That adds up to 12 scheduled games on paper, though a road game at Duke is still not a done deal.
If that one doesn’t get finalized in the next few months, the Irish would still need one more game to complete the regular season slate.
The 2028 lineup is already even more loaded. Notre Dame has 11 of its 12 regular-season games scheduled, starting with Texas on Sept.
9, Arkansas on Sept. 16, a trip to Purdue on Sept. 23, Clemson on Oct.
7, Stanford on Oct. 14, a trip to Auburn on Oct. 28, a trip to Virginia Tech on Nov. 4, a trip to Navy on Nov. 18, plus Boston College, Miami (Fla.) and a trip to Pittsburgh still listed as to be determined. The expectation is that the Irish will add another G6 opponent to round things out, especially with that many Power 4 opponents already lined up.
That’s the key point: 2028 is already packed with heavyweight trips and marquee home dates, and it’s hard to imagine Notre Dame stacking 11 P4 opponents into the same season.
Then there’s 2029, where two games still need to be scheduled. The likely path, according to the current setup, is one G6 opponent and one P4 opponent.
It’s too early to know exactly how those teams will look, but the Irish already have Alabama, Texas, NC State, Clemson, Florida State and Georgia Tech on deck, so the idea is that they probably won’t chase another elite P4 opponent just to make the slate harder. More likely, they’ll fill that spot with a middle-of-the-pack program from one of the major conferences.
Whatever the criticism of Notre Dame’s independence, the future schedule doesn’t really support the idea that the Irish are running from anyone. If anything, the opposite is true.
In Other News...
Notre Dame Suddenly Has A Quarterback Recruiting Problem Again
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For Notre Dame, the bigger issue is not just replacing one name, but figuring out where the next realistic option comes from after Tagliaferris departure. The Irish had been tracking other quarterback possibilities, and now they have to see whether those paths are still open or whether the loss leaves them scrambling to reset the entire approach. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Suddenly Has A New Name In Its Tight End Battle
Jack Larsen spent the 2025 season doing enough to get noticed, appearing in seven games and hauling in his first college catch while earning more snaps in Notre Dames tight end mix. For a player in a room as deep as this one, that kind of incremental progress matters, especially when coaches and analysts already like the way he catches the ball and see a path for him to keep climbing in 2026.
The next step is where Larsen starts to separate himself, and spring gave Notre Dame more reason to pay attention. He is still working to round out his game as a blocker, but the combination of steady improvement and natural receiving ability has put him squarely in the conversation for a larger role, with the possibility that he could become one of the more important names in the rotation if the development continues. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame May Have A Freshman Edge Riser Fans Can't Ignore
Notre Dame is set to open its 2026 training camp with Boubacar Traore and Bryce Young penciled in as the starting defensive ends, but the real intrigue is behind them. Keon Keeley, Loghan Thomas, and the two early enrollees, Ebenezer Ewetade and Rodney Dunham, are all in the mix for snaps, giving Marcus Freeman and his staff a crowded room to sort through before the season takes shape.
Dunham has already made a strong early impression in spring practices, enough to draw notice from Freeman for the way he processes the defense and plays at a fast pace. Among the freshmen in the group, he has looked like the one most ready to push for immediate work, and the next step is whether that spring momentum carries into camp when the competition gets more serious. [Read more 🡒]