Notre Dame's 2008 Schedule Is an Improvement in Itself

By Nick Shepkowski

When you look at changes from Notre Dame's disappointing 2007 compared to what is in store for 2008, the biggest may not even have anything to do with the Irish roster or depth chart.

Instead, the schedule that was set up by Kevin White before his departure has Irish faithful thinking that going from 3-9 to a New Year's Day bowl is not that unrealistic.

Last year the Irish started off with a schedule of Georgia Tech, at Penn State, and at Michigan.  With two of those three teams now replaced, let's look at how different the first three weeks of 2008 will be.

Instead of opening against Georgia Tech, in 2008 the Irish find their first true warm-up game since 1999, when they opened the season with a tune-up game of sorts against a former slouch, the Kansas Jayhawks.

This year the Irish welcome San Diego State to South Bend.  Many experts feel the Aztecs will be among the worst teams at college football's highest level this coming season.

Michigan remains on the schedule this year as they come to South Bend, this time in week two.  Getting Michigan out of The Big House makes things better on its own.  Couple that with Michigan likely being a much weaker team than last year, and Notre Dame is two-for-two in lessening the schedule's difficulty.

Michigan State is a spot on the schedule that is going to be more difficult than in 2007.  The Spartans will likely be improved, and going to Spartan Stadium is never easy.  However, remember that the visiting team in this series has won each game since the 2000 season, when Michigan State defeated the Irish in East Lansing.

Purdue and Stanford remain on the schedule in 2008, and this time both teams come to South Bend.  Purdue seems to be a toss-up at this point, but there are very few doubts that this year's Boilermakers squad is not as talented as that of the 2007 version.  Stanford continues to improve under Jim Harbaugh but remains a team that Notre Dame is still years ahead of talent-wise.

A three-week stretch of traveling to North Carolina and Washington before hosting Pitt follows on the Notre Dame schedule in 2008.  Figure an ever-so-improving UNC team replaces a struggling Duke team from a year ago, and the schedule gets more difficult here.

However, replace the Irish's road trip to UCLA last fall with a trip to Seattle to face the Huskies, and things once again seem to be headed for the better.

Finally, Pitt will not be a national title contender when they come to South Bend like Boston College was a year ago, so figure the schedule is easier once again in this slot.

Also this year, we see Notre Dame traveling to Baltimore to take on the Naval Academy.  Everyone remembers a year ago when the planets seemed to align and the Irish finally lost to Navy.

Based on the improvement nearly everyone expects to see in the Irish this year, you have to figure this game will not be as daunting as it was a year ago, despite the Irish having to go on the road.

It seems pathetic to say facing Navy a year ago was a daunting task, but that just speaks to how poor the Irish were.

You can say that Syracuse replaces Air Force from a year ago.  No offense to the Orange, and not to say AF was great a year ago by any means, but Syracuse will enter among the worst of all BCS Conference teams in 2008.  It will be an easier game than the 2007 contest against Air Force.

Finally, the dreaded USC Trojans await the Irish in the season finale in 2008 as Notre Dame travels to Los Angeles.  Home or away, USC is a much better team than Notre Dame will be in 2008.  This game is a draw—it was a tough pill to swallow in '07 and will be just as tough to swallow in '08.

Say what you like and drink all the Irish Kool-Aid you can, but the fact of the matter is USC is still a much better team than the Irish will be in 2008.  38 points better?  Time will tell, but for now we will call this a draw compared to the USC team the Irish faced a year ago.

To sum it up, the Irish schedule shows room for improvement in 2008.  There are a few teams they play that are better than opponents we saw on the 2007 schedule.  However, couple the progress of Notre Dame with the demise of some teams on the slate, and the schedule does not seem nearly as daunting.

Looking at the schedule and breaking it down, I have it going something like this.

Sep. 6 vs. San Diego State - ND WIN

Sep. 13 vs. Michigan, Sep. 20 at MSU, and Sep. 27 vs. Purdue (1-2 likely)

Oct. 4 vs. Stanford - ND WIN

Oct. 11 at UNC, Oct. 25 at Washington (1-1 a fair estimate, though personally I feel they will go 2-0)

Nov. 1 vs. Pittsburgh - ND Loss

Nov. 8 at Boston College - ND WIN

Nov. 15 at Navy - ND WIN

Nov. 22 vs. Syracuse - ND WIN

Nov. 29 at USC - ND Loss

That's how I see things going in 2008.  The Irish likely will not pull any major upsets in 2008, but they will be much more competitive against average teams and will walk away with a season that brings in eight wins.

Depending on how the team matures, the win total could easily improve all the way to 10 realistically.  However, if the team does not mature as much as many expect, the Irish could very well be 5-7 or 6-6 and go bowl-less for a second straight year.

As I stated, I feel this team will be as good, if not better, than eight of the teams on the schedule.  If the Irish take care of business in these eight games, a New Year's Day Bowl could very much be in the works.

Even if it's not a New Year's Day Bowl, a bowl game nonetheless will seem like magic after the train wreck known as 2007.