The biggest knock on Notre Dame as a College Football Playoff team is its strength of schedule. Former Irish quarterback Brady Quinn does not care what Kirk Herbstreit thinks about his alma mater.
The Big Ten analyst mocked the ESPN analyst for his rant about the lack of quality opponents.
Two of the most prominent voices in college football are on opposite sides of this discussion. They clearly do not agree!
Notre Dame didn’t play nobody, Pawl!
As of Saturday morning, Notre Dame ranked as the No. 2 team in the country. It traveled to Provo to play No. 6-ranked BYU.
The Cougars are one of just three ranked opponents on the Fighting Irish’s schedule for 2026. They are undefeated at 6-0.
- vs. Wisconsin — Win by 28
- vs. Rice — Win by 52
- vs. Michigan State — win by 17
- at Purdue — Win by 39
- at North Carolina — Win by 11
- vs. Stanford — win by 51
- ——————————————-
- at No. 8 BYU
- vs. Navy
- vs. No. 3 Miami
- vs. Boston College
- vs. No. 24 SMU
- at Syracuse
ESPN rates Notre Dame’s schedule to date as the 60th most difficult in college football. ESPN rates Notre Dame’s remaining schedule as the 41st most difficult in college football. Just to compare, programs like Georgia and Alabama have the No. 28 and No. 31-rated remaining schedules, respectively.
Although BYU, Miami and SMU are considered quality ranked opponents, and you can never count out an unexpected upset, nine of the Fighting Irish’s 12 games were penciled in as wins before the season. And, because of a contractual obligation, they are guaranteed to make the College Football Playoff if they are ranked in the top 12 at the end of the regular season.
Obviously, Notre Dame will not make the Playoff if it loses more than one of these games. That seems unlikely.
Brady Quinn mocked Kirk Herbstreit for crying about strength of schedule.
Even if the Irish prove their worth and go on to win the national championship, the conversation surrounding their strength of schedule will continue to exist every year until they officially join a conference. And even then…
Kirk Herbstreit appeared on Get Up! on Friday before College Gameday traveled to Provo on Saturday morning. He called Notre Dame’s schedule an “embarrassment” because it will only play two games where it is challenged. He said it “cannot continue” because it is an “embarrassment” and “incredibly unfair.” His opinion was loud and clear.
"Notre Dame plays two games where they're going to be challenged…think about what Alabama and Georgia and Ohio State and these teams with what they're dealing with. That cannot continue. That's an embarrassment and incredibly unfair." – Kirk Herbstreit pic.twitter.com/Lw4vxkGxty
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 16, 2026
Brady Quinn, who played quarterback for the Irish in the early 2000s, responded back to Herbstreit. It was savage.
The latter broke down in tears during an emotional message on racial justice in 2020.
Quinn replied to Herbstreit’s rant about strength of schedule with a screenshot from the above video.
— Brady Quinn (@Brady_Quinn) October 16, 2026
I don’t know whether these two former college football quarterbacks-turned-college football pundits are friends or if there is a legitimate beef between them but Brady Quinn went for the jugular. Kirk Herbstreit did not answer back.