Saying that he’d like to see examples of ones worse than ours. We are just saying that our home schedule isn’t all that bad, and actually is better than many others.

I was actually asking for worse examples of home schedules from ND's past. Not from other schools

That said - preseason rankings are dog-shit....they're a data point to use (somewhat valid)...but I don't think they're a great reflection of whether or not a team is bringing a good team into your stadium.

Sometimes the best team you played was expected to be a nobody.

Stanford and MSU in my memory fit both these molds in different years.

These projections are based on returning players, incoming players etc. Of course nobody is sure how it will play out, but right now all 3 Of SC, UNC, and Cinci will be bringing QBs into ND who likely will be selected in the first round. UNC has its entire OL back. SC has its top 2 RBs and most of its defense back. They are going to be pretty good teams. Their names outside of SC don’t resonate like some others and may not be a game some here would like to attend, but all 3 will provide a challenging test. There is a chance all 3 will be in the top 10 when they play them. I’m not sure when that last occurred at ND. Those with a better or longer memory may know.

So you rely on scheduling good programs. We didn't do that this year for our home schedule.

Every team could end up being really good or really terrible. But programs trend towards one or the other based on a longer history than pre-season rankings can reflect. Whether or not ND fans/students want to attend the games is the better and more important barometer of a home slate than what pre-season rankings say. We're the ones buying the tickets and funding the program.

Outside USC there isnt a team even sniffing tier 1 on the home slate. You need to consider UW at Soldier Field a "home game" to make it palatable but those games are a gift to Chicago alums and not necessarily an easy trip for freshman/sophomore in college who can only afford true home games.

All are full conference members and locked into certain games. Take a gander at who they choose to host otherwise. For sure ND has less games locked in from a conference standpoint but with Stanford and Navy on every schedule it’s essentially the same. Taking that into consideration for the most part ND does a decent job filling out the remaining portion each year.

I think your argument would be more valid without the ACC affiliation. If you don’t like the games then don’t go. An empty stadium may change things but the stadium will be close to full no matter what as long as the team hovers around that 10 win plateau. I’m 37 so I can remember the Holtz years fairly well from 88 on. Whether many of us like it or not there are a whole new generation of fans who don’t give a shit about the schedule. They want to be in the playoff and post shit on social media about how big of a fan they are.

Alabama home games 2021
1. Mercer
2. Southern Miss
3. Ole Miss
4. Tennessee
5. New Mexico State
6. Arkansas

Clemson home games 2021
1. SC State
2. Georgia Tech
3. BC
4. FSU
5. UConn
6. Wake Forest

Ohio State home games 2021
1. Oregon
2. Tulsa
3. Akron
4. Maryland
5. Penn St
6. Purdue
7. Michigan State

Oklahoma home games 2021
1. Western Carolina
2. Nebraska
3. WVU
4. TCU
5. Texas Tech
6. Iowa State

Georgia home games 2021
1. UAB
2. South Carolina
3. Arkansas
4. Kentucky
5. Florida
6. Missouri
7. Charleston Southern

And that includes LSU, who you forgot to include in your post.

Overall 7 home games - 1 FCS team, 2 non-P5 - whose teams combined to go .398 last year. For having 4 SEC teams locked in, it’s actually impressive how terrible that home slate is.

Why on earth would the acc affiliation not be part of our scheduling calculation? And we are independent for a reason - it’s to create better games for our ND Nation which is how we built this program in the first place.

Did we play Stanford last year? Did we play them every year Jon Elway was there? Why are they locked in?

And you seem to be advocating a lot for a diluted, shitty home schedule. Mostly by pointing out the awfulness of other team’s home schedules (and they are indeed awful) - and stating the business line about how we shouldn’t have a strong schedule because people will buy the tickets anyways. Is that a brag worthy accomplishment? Is that how leaders behave? Put out the shittiest product that someone will still buy?

You can’t seem to grasp it. I didn’t make the decision to join the ACC or to lock in Stanford and Navy every year. I’d prefer to play a big game every week as a fan. It’s fun. But as a former D2 college football player I realize that isn’t possibly sustainable physically or mentally for the players or coaches. Have a nice night, you seem stressed.

You have to design the rest of your schedule to aggressively make up for the shit you’re locked into.

You also don’t have to make those decisions in the first place so you can’t use them as an excuse.

Last season’s schedule had an excuse...all the rest are on us...otherwise what is the point of independence?

is actually going to most likely be decent. You argued that it was shitty, but it’s not. A couple good warmup games. 3 probable preseason top 15 teams after that. A shitty game against Navy that I’d love to drop from the schedule (but we can’t), and a mediocre G Tech game. Even our road slate traditionally would be fairly good, but isn’t that great now because of some under performing teams (@FSU is normally tier 1, and @V Tech and @Stanford are normally good tier 2s, with a neutral Wisconsin game always a very good one).

All in all, it’s not a bad full slate if you want to make a playoff run. It’s not the toughest gauntlet ever, but it’s not a bunch of cupcakes.