Ranking Brian Kelly’s 100 Notre Dame Wins: 90-81
You saw almost all Group of Five teams in the first ten I listed and in the next ten you’ll see more Power Five programs but none of which who were in the midst of special seasons.
90. Nevada 2016: 39-10 victory in which the Irish covered. This one took place on my wedding day and had me convinced maybe the season wasn’t about to head down the drain.
89. Rice 2014: 48-17 season opening victory got the Irish off to a fast start in a year they’d ultimately win their first six games.
88. Louisville 2020: 12-7 counts the same as 62-7 in the win-loss department but this one against a brutal Cardinals defense didn’t leave any observers impressed.
87. Wake Forest 2017: 48-37 win moved Notre Dame to 8-1 but left much to be desired for a team trying to make their first College Football Playoff appearance.
86. South Florida 2020: 52-0 destruction was nice for those who weren’t over the 2011 debacle but when you’ve got championship aspirations it’s hard to get too excited about beating up USF.
85. Boston College 2019: 40-7 win on Senior Day against a bad Boston College team in the last “normal” game we’d see at Notre Dame Stadium for quite some time.
84. Duke 2020: 27-13 victory was the first in Notre Dame’s history as a member of the ACC came against a squad who is currently just 1-6 in conference play.
83. Temple 2013: 28-6 win came against current Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Rhule in his first game at Temple.
82. Duke 2019: 38-7 road victory was a prime example of maybe not playing great but physically dominating a inferior opponent.
81. Boston College 2015: 19-16 victory at Fenway Park kept Notre Dame’s playoff dreams alive despite five turnovers against a 3-8 squad.
Next up: 80-71…