Notre Dame’s resume takes a hit with Wisconsin and SMU losses in Week 9
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Notre Dame didn’t exactly blow observers away with its Week 9 performance in a tougher-than-it-had-to-be 35-13 victory over gritty Navy in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
At the home of the New England Patriots, the 5th-ranked Fighting Irish trailed late in the first half, only led by 1 point at halftime and then got down to the business of blowing past an overmatched opponent. They did that, so give them credit in improving to 7-1 with next Saturday night’s mega matchup against No. 1 Miami next up.
But there were many other games going on Saturday in the noon ET window, of course, and a few of them concerned Notre Dame. When it was all said and done, the 2 games that most concerned the Irish were downright concerning.
They centered around Wisconsin and SMU, 2 teams on Notre Dame’s 2026 schedule. The Fighting Irish took care of Wisconsin in their season opener on a neutral field in Green Bay, and now the Badgers had risen to No. 25 in the AP poll.
Then there was No. 19 SMU, which visits Notre Dame on Nov. 21, so that looked like an opportunity for the Irish to build on their shaky resume in their pursuit of a College Football Playoff berth.
But guess what happened to both Wisconsin and SMU on Saturday?
They both lost, with the Badgers getting their doors blown off at Iowa, 30-0, while the Mustangs lost in a heartbreaker at Syracuse, 30-27.
Naturally, some analysts caught wind of the Wisconsin-SMU connection on Saturday and how it affects Notre Dame’s resume.
“So much for Notre Dame’s improving schedule,” wrote Stewart Mandel of The Athletic on his social media account in the aftermath of those noon games.
“Two possible Top 25 wins just went up in smoke as Wisconsin lost 30-0 to Iowa and SMU lost at Syracuse.”
Then there was CBS Sports analyst Brad Crawford, who wrote on his social media:
“Next week’s home game with Miami is now as close to a must-win as you can get for Notre Dame. … That SMU matchup next month doesn’t mean much now in terms of quality after ‘Stangs lost to Syracuse.”
Notre Dame will have to take care of its opponents on the field, where it really matters, and it had no control over what happened elsewhere while it was getting past Navy. But those other results didn’t exactly help the Fighting Irish’s Playoff cause in Week 9.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
