USC fans will miss playing Notre Dame this year, especially since the game was to have been played at the Los Angeles Coliseum. Staff writer Josh Webb talked to Fighting Irish Wire editor Nick Shepkowski about the cancellation of Trojans-Irish this year.
Removed from the USC angle, Notre Dame rates as a story unto itself. How will the Fighting Irish’s schedule change this year? Fighting Irish Wire came up with a tentative version of an adjusted schedule which was heavy on ACC teams. This makes perfect sense, given Notre Dame’s contractual relationship with the ACC and the desire on both sides to strengthen what has been a positive and productive partnership.
One has to note, however, that when the Big Ten and Pac-12 moved to conference-only game schedules, Notre Dame lost three opponents: USC and Stanford in the Pac-12, of course, plus a game against Wisconsin.
The obvious question should be asked: Will Notre Dame try to fill all three dates, or limit itself to just one or two of those three open dates?
I don’t have a lot of strong opinions on this particular question other than this: The fact that the USC game was scheduled for November 28 — at the end of the regular season, just before the conference championship games — makes it highly unlikely that the Irish will get that particular date filled. Therefore, I would be very surprised if the Irish try to play all 12 games. I would put the ceiling at 11 games and set the likely number at 10. Notre Dame will very likely try to get an ACC opponent to fill at least one of the three lost slots, but that partly depends on the ACC’s scheduling plans. If the ACC moves to a setup in which it plays only one nonconference game, Notre Dame’s options might be more limited. If the ACC plays two nonconference games, then yes, the Irish will almost certainly turn to the ACC to fill at least one open date created by the three Pac-12 or Big Ten cancellations.
A wild card: The ACC is considering some non-traditional scheduling moves in a pandemic.
"If you have to play somebody twice, play ‘em twice. … Just make it easy to play some games. I think the public would enjoy that, just the uniqueness of a season that certainly we will all remember." https://t.co/7UgIDe0ltr
— David Teel (@ByDavidTeel) July 15, 2020
That could upend Notre Dame’s plans. At any rate, we need to see what the ACC, Big 12, and SEC do before we can get a fuller feel for what the Irish intend to do. Notre Dame is in a position to wait for the remaining Power Five conferences to lay out their schedule plans. The Irish can then survey their options.
If the Irish don’t care for any of the menu items, it wouldn’t be the first time they stayed home… but in a pandemic, staying home might be the entirely appropriate action.