Scott Polacek@@ScottPolacekFeatured Columnist IVJanuary 19, 2025
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With the Big Ten and SEC appearing to separate themselves with their depth and overall quality at times in the modern-day era of college football, Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua was asked about the scheduling arrangement his program has with the ACC.
He told reporters he would be interested in potentially bolstering the Fighting Irish’s schedule as part of that agreement by annually playing one of the ACC’s powerhouses in Clemson.
“When we play a team like Clemson, I think that has become such a great rivalry in such a short amount of time,” he said. “I would tell you that’s the type of game I’d love to play every year.”
While Notre Dame remains an independent school outside of the conferences, it has an agreement with the ACC to play five games against the league’s teams a season.
This past season’s slate featured matchups against Louisville, Stanford, Georgia Tech, Florida State and Virginia. Louisville and Georgia Tech were the only teams from that group to finish above .500, and they still featured a combined 10 losses.
Florida State would normally be a strong game, but the Seminoles were arguably the most disappointing team in the country this season with a 2-10 record.
How to weigh performances on the field, overall records and strength of schedule will always be part of the debate in college football, and this season was no different even with the expansion of the CFP to 12 teams.
The Fighting Irish don’t have the benefit of playing for a conference championship and automatic inclusion in the field, so their strength of schedule figures to be an important measuring stick in future years even if it wasn’t really an issue this season thanks to their strong 11-1 overall record.
Facing Clemson, which won the ACC title and made the CFP this season, would typically bolster that strength of schedule and give Notre Dame something of a measuring-stick game ahead of the postseason games.
And the two teams faced each other five times from 2018 through 2023, including in the 2018 CFP and 2020 ACC Championship Game. Due to the shortened season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Notre Dame was eligible to participate in the ACC Championship Game in 2020.
Clemson won both of those high-profile showdowns, although the Fighting Irish won their regular-season meetings in 2020 and 2022.
At this point, there is no questioning Notre Dame’s accomplishments this season.
Despite a shocking loss to Northern Illinois in September, head coach Marcus Freeman’s team rallied together with notable wins over Navy, Army, USC and Louisville, among others, before a playoff run that included victories over Indiana, Georgia and Penn State.
Only Ohio State stands in the way of a national championship, and the two powerhouse programs will face each other for the title Monday.
