Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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4 DECEMBER 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED I f the 70-7 Irish blowout win over Syracuse Nov. 22 taught us anything, we learned that it was the most points scored by Notre Dame in a game since it beat Haskell University 73-0 back in 1932. We also now know that the Orange have joined former Irish opponents such as American Medical, St. Viator and Rose Poly, from more than 100 years ago on a list of the most lopsided wins in Irish program history. "Obviously a unique game. I haven't been a part of a game like that," Irish head coach Mar- cus Freeman said after the Or- ange crush. "I don't know if I've ever seen a game like that." The final score may have been eye-catching against Syracuse. But maybe it shouldn't be. Notre Dame was a five-touchdown fa- vorite versus the Orange, and it was a 30-plus point favorite against Stanford Nov. 29. In all, Notre Dame was favored in every game it played this year — not unheard of for an elite program. But the Irish were also 20-plus point favorites in six games and 30-plus point favorites in three of its final four regu- lar-season games. Another manageable Irish sched- ule paired with Notre Dame's smooth path into the College Football Playoff has brought some outside blowback this season and resurrected the debate over whether independence provides the Fighting Irish an unfair advantage when it comes to playoff inclusion. Notre Dame's scheduling relationship with the mediocre Atlantic Coast Con- ference provides the Irish five winnable games every season. Notre Dame is 41-3 against ACC op- ponents in the regular season since 2018. Though, it did lose to league- member Miami to open this season. Add Navy to the five ACC matchups, throw in a mid-major opponent, and Notre Dame can essentially start each season 7-0, and put itself in line for at least 10 wins and playoff consideration every year. According to ESPN, Notre Dame's 2025 regular-season schedule ranks only as the 34th most difficult in the country. There's no debate, Miami and Texas A&M were clearly the two tough- est games on the Notre Dame regular- season schedule, and the Irish lost both. This isn't to say Notre Dame doesn't deserve a playoff spot when the final rankings are released Dec. 7. The No- vember/December version of this pro- gram is vastly improved from the Sep- tember version, especially on defense. And there's not a team in the country that wants to play the Irish right now. The point is to recognize just how fortunate Notre Dame is by playing with a different set of playoff qualification rules than full-time conference mem- bers face. There was never any play- off panic after Notre Dame's 0-2 start because the meat of its schedule was already in the rear view. The Irish were double-digit favorites in nine of their final 10 regular-season games, so winning out and getting to 10-2 and into playoff consideration didn't seem that far-fetched. T h e n re m ove a co n fe re n ce championship game from the equation, and the indepen- dent island Notre Dame inhab- its should be the envy of every other power program in the country. W h i l e c o n fe re n c e te a m s will beat up and cannibalize each other in league cham- pionship games the weekend of Dec. 5-6, Notre Dame can watch the fun from afar, kick back and not risk losing for a third time this season in a con- ference championship game, which would likely drop it from playoff consideration. A workable example of the high-risk, low-reward sce- nario that playing in a confer- ence title game presents comes from last season, and there will presumably be similar situations again this year. One-loss Indiana and two-loss Ohio State — the eventual 2024-25 national champion — finished third and fourth in the Big Ten last season, respectively, meaning they didn't qualify for the con- ference championship game, and there- fore didn't risk suffering another loss that likely would've knocked either out of the playoff bracket. Never any such worries for the Irish. Again, independence versus confer- ence affiliation will always be a hot dis- cussion topic for Notre Dame football. But given the friendly path to double- digit wins and playoff consideration every year — all while staying clear of the late-season risks of a conference championship game — it's a debate that can wait while Notre Dame likely awaits its first-round playoff assignment. ✦ After season-opening losses to Miami and Texas A&M, the Irish were listed as double-digit favorites in nine of their final 10 regular-season games and will not have to compete in a conference championship game. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER Todd D. Burlage has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 2005. He can be reached at tburlage@blueandgold.com. UPON FURTHER REVIEW TODD D. BURLAGE Scheduling, Independence Keep Irish In A Cozy Place