The No. 4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish entered the 2026 college football season with a lot of excitement. The Fighting Irish were one of the top picks to win the national championship, which would end a nearly four-decade-long drought.

Notre Dame Starts 2026 With Dominant Win

Notre Dame started the season on Sunday night against the Wisconsin Badgers at the iconic Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Fighting Irish struggled early in that game, leading 13-10 at halftime. However, they would show why many are so high on them in the second half, outscoring the Badgers 28-3 to win 41-13.

While it was a good opening win, it has sparked more discussion about their schedule. Notre Dame faces three currently ranked teams this season. It faces the No. 14 BYU Cougars on the road and the No. 7 Miami Hurricanes and the No. 19 SMU Mustangs at home.

The schedule has brought up the memorandum signed last spring, where the conferences agreed to guarantee Notre Dame a future College Football Playoff berth, provided the Fighting Irish finish among the top 12 teams in the rankings for the 12-team format.

Paul Finebaum Rips Notre Dame's Schedule After Wisconsin Win

ESPN's Paul Finebaum brought up that memorandum on "Get Up" after Notre Dame's win, calling it "idiocy."

"They have about a 2.5-game schedule," Finebaum said. "If they go 10-2, thanks to the idiocy that I mentioned a minute ago, they are already in. They're grandfathered in... I just can't believe playing this ACC schedule."

The Fighting Irish Still Have to Navigate Their Toughest Games

Finebaum's criticism will ultimately be tested by the three ranked opponents remaining on Notre Dame's schedule. Those games will give Marcus Freeman's team its clearest opportunities to prove that it deserves its lofty preseason ranking.

If Notre Dame wins those games, the argument over its schedule becomes much less significant because the Fighting Irish will have built a résumé capable of standing on its own.

But if they struggle against the ranked portion of the schedule, the College Football Playoff provision could become a much bigger talking point. For now, Notre Dame has done its part by taking care of Wisconsin. The next step is to show that this team can beat the best teams on its schedule, not simply reach the playoff.

Notre Dame will take on the Rice Owls on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC.