Notre Dame' schedule is free pass in CFP system built by SEC, Big Ten | Opinion

Let me see if I’ve got this straight, because the particulars haven’t added up for years.

You’re telling me the SEC and Big Ten are playing nine conference games each against the best players in college football, and a majority of those 34 teams are playing another game against a power conference school.

And Notre Dame is playing what?

A handful of gimme putts, annual games against teams it declares “rivals” (Stanford, Navy), Purdue, Michigan State and who knows or who cares after that.

We’re getting cheated, people.

We’ve been sold a bag of College Football Playoff goods — a free pass, no less — that the SEC and Big Ten willingly gave Notre Dame for some long-gone ideal of “television loves the Irish.” Only television doesn’t love Notre Dame.

It loves compelling games.

Which brings us to this Saturday, and how we’re being sold the sham of No. 8 Brigham Young as a mega matchup for Notre Dame. Have they no shame?

Not an SEC or Big Ten heavyweight, but BYU ― the school that last season played two difficult games and lost both to Texas Tech. Just in case you’ve forgotten, Texas Tech didn’t score a point on Oregon in last year’s CFP quarterfinals.

A Notre Dame win over BYU no more validates Irish bonafides than an Ole Miss win over Louisville. Same thing, different teams.

Yet because the SEC and Big Ten wanted Notre Dame so badly to come along for the CFP ride, it allowed the Irish certain guarantees for access. At the top of the above board list: finish in the Top 12 of the CFP poll, and you’re in.

At the top of the wink-wink list: we don’t care how you schedule your easy drive to the party. Just get here.

Now this season arrives, and we're stuck with a one-game resume for Notre Dame. It doesn't matter what happens next month in South Bend against Miami, the result is simply CFP seeding.

And for what, television ratings?

Nielsen releases ratings every week, and Notre Dame last week was nowhere to be found among the top 10 most watched teams of 2026. There were seven SEC teams (Texas, LSU, Ole Miss, Kentucky, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama), and three Big Ten teams (Wisconsin, Ohio State, Michigan).

It’s not because American hates Notre Dame, it’s because America doesn’t give a flip about bad games. We now live in a world where American would rather watch Kentucky and Ole Miss instead of the legendary Fighting Irish.

While Notre Dame-North Carolina drew 2.9 million viewers on Oct. 3, Alabama-Mississippi State drew 5.1 million in the same time slot. Michigan-Minnesota, also in the same noon window, drew 4.1 million.

Here’s more sinful reality: when this horror of a 24-team CFP is rammed though in the next couple of weeks or so, Notre Dame’s road gets exponentially easier. The Irish, on any given year, would more than likely have to lose five games to miss the CFP.

“It's laughable when you really think about it,” an SEC coach told USA TODAY Sports. “The season begins, and you're already in the CFP.”

It doesn’t matter if you think the SEC and Big Ten are overrated. Doesn’t matter if you think Notre Dame can beat any team in either conference anywhere you spot the ball.

Can they do it again the following week? And the week after that.

Can Notre Dame get ready nine times within either conference, play at a high level and win over and over? Can it play a 10th game against a power conference opponent, and do the same?

Can it compete with the best players and best coaches in college football on a weekly basis, year after year after year ― and be among the top 4-6 teams to receive a CFP bid?

Because if Notre Dame were truly interested in playing a “national” schedule — and playing the best, as it proudly states — it would load up on SEC and Big Ten schools. Instead of five or six gimme putts from the ACC, “rivalry” games against Stanford and Navy, and a couple Group of Six games.

Southern California was a “rivalry” game, too. We saw how quickly that was temporarily put on the shelf for — I can’t believe I’m even writing this — BYU.

Stanford and Navy? Hold on like grim death. USC and one of the top three rivalries in college football? Let’s play hardball!

Imagine that, Notre Dame running from a Lincoln Riley-coached team. Or at the very least, not simply agreeing to play the storied rivalry somewhere, anywhere, anytime — because after all, Notre Dame doesn’t run from anyone.

Unless it doesn’t fit the scheduling philosophy.

Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua sees the horizon line, and it has nothing to do with the CFP. It has everything to do with future media rights deals.

NBC won’t continue to pay top dollar for dog games with little return.

There are SEC and Big Ten schools on future schedules, a slow entry beginning next season with a home-and-home against Auburn, and Arkansas and Texas soon after.

By 2029, the Irish play Alabama and Texas in the same season — and, of course, six games against the ACC.

There’s no need for drastic change when the board is already rigged in your favor.

Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB. Listen to him daily, from 12-2 p.m., on 1010XL-Jacksonville.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Notre Dame' schedule is free pass in CFP system built by SEC, Big Ten | Opinion