The Fighting Irish fought their way right to the finish line. When the emotions from losing Natty eventually settle down, Notre Dame can take solace from their efforts to get there. HC Marcus Freeman and his program haven’t just fought battles on grass. They’ve fought prejudice, naysayers, and, most resoundingly, convention. The norm to be a championship contender is to be a member of a Power 4 conference. Independent Notre Dame has shown there’s more than one traversal to the promiseland. Despite this, the prejudicial stigma is prevailing. Alongside the Irish, coach Freeman is catching undue flak, too.

As cliche as this sounds, it’s best to let bygones be bygones. However, at the risk of reopening old wounds for some, cast your minds back to Selection Sunday. One look at discourse on both new and traditional media alike would’ve had you thinking the new CFP field hosts about 24 teams, not 12. Every fanbase believed their school was getting in, or at least was making the case for it. People of different persuasions were all divided. There was divergence even over what weapons they were deploying to make their team look superior. However, one argument/weapon was so prominent you couldn’t go 2 minutes without hearing about it. 3 cursed words: strength of schedule. They’ve circled back to haunt Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame.

Hindsight is 20/20. Now that the season is over, the masses are in unison about Notre Dame. They were obviously deserving of their playoff berth. Albeit, this wasn’t the case this time a couple of months ago. That ill-fated, outlier loss to Northern Illinois fanned the flames of people undermining Marcus Freeman’s Irish. Plus, it didn’t help that their schedule didn’t entail any major threats relative to an SEC schedule, for instance. After opening their season to Texas A&M, Notre Dame played only 1 other team perceived to be a challenge until their last game of the regular season to rival USC. That 1 game was Louisville. A year on, the “soft schedule” allegations are back. One glance at Notre Dame’s 2025 fixture list, and they’re not irrational either.

A couple things to note. There are a lot of misconceptions in the wider CFB sphere, and they only increase as newer fans delve into this growing world. First up, the schedules are planned years in advance. Hence, it’s difficult to discern which team will prove to be a “soft” or “hard” challenge when the game eventually arrives. Playing FSU in 2023 was an entirely different proposition to playing them in 2024. Marcus Freeman actually did have to play them last season, but it transpired to be a non-challenge when the time came. Another factor, more prevalent in the case of Notre Dame, are the conference matchups.

Notre Dame are independent, but their scheduling is affiliated with the ACC. As a result, they play 6 of their 12 games against ACC opposition. You’d think that should alleviate coach Freeman and the program of some criticism. They can’t help the fact that the conference is overall not in a very healthy position in terms of the strength of its members. Which ever way you construe it, an ACC schedule is bound to seem weak. The crux of people’s disdain in this scenario is the other 6 games. At least on paper, those aren’t particularly difficult either. Now Freeman won’t have any complaints. Looks like another double-digit win season is on the horizon. However, the social media verse is loathing this schedule. CFB fans didn’t mince words in letting Marcus Freeman and the Irish know of their verbal wrath.

Fans make their feelings known about Marcus Freeman’s seemingly linear path to another playoff

The full extent of the schedule itself can be viewed on the aforementioned X post. In the comments of this very post was pandemonium against Notre Dame. “Just about any D1 school would LOVE this schedule.” wrote one disgusted fan. A similar sentiment was shared by another, saying, “Absolute cake walk my god.” In the midst of these underwhelmed fans were also those who stated how it’s a systemic issue arising from the independence of the school.

“This is why ND prefers to stay independent. So they can roll out this garbage year after year,” wrote one person. Despite the consensus believing this, a soft schedule is the least of the reasons why Notre Dame prefers staying independent. “Free trip to the CFP smh” said another fan.  An Ohio State fan went down the sarcasm route, saying, “Damn look at that gauntlet” The emotions were running so errand that Marcus Freeman’s coaching prowess came into question too. “They should go undefeated but knowing Marcus freeman they will lose a game they shouldn’t,” wrote another person critical of a whole different thing. Freeman’s poor handle on things was a theme in the aftermath of the loss to Ohio State.

These strength of schedule debates are, unfortunately, a perpetual occurrence. There’s no real solution on the horizon. Certain ideas have been floated about by the likes of Joel Klatt, but adopting them is its own can of worms. For now, these debates will keep boiling down to one easy slight at Notre Dame. Their independence. To contextualize just how much of an advantage this can be in certain scenarios, check this out.

The CFP paid conferences depending on how far a member makes it per round. $20 million has been given to the Big 10 thanks to Ohio State alone, plus more for Penn State and Oregon. $4 million for firstly making the CFP. Then, an additional $4 million for making round 2, and then $6 million each for making the semis and the championship. That’s $20 million, which is divided among the 18 B1G schools. Just over a million received for their personal efforts. Notre Dame gets the entire $20 million to themselves. They didn’t win hardware, but the green leprechauns saw more green than anyone these playoffs. It’s easy to see why they’re in no rush to change things. Perhaps something will happen down the line, but for the foreseeable, The Irish will keep reaping exclusive rewards.