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ANALYSIS: Notre Dame’s 2020 Schedule Tailor-Made For Success

In my 50 years of following the Notre Dame football program, the 11-game 2020 regular season is the most favorable I’ve seen for the Fighting Irish when it comes to making a run at the national title. Let us count the ways:

• All the opponents except superpower Clemson lost a minimum of five games last season.

• Other than the Tigers, the lone 2020 foes to even finish in the Associated Press top 25 the past four years were Florida State and Louisville in 2016, and Syracuse in 2018 — a team Notre Dame throttled by a 36-3 count. Plus, the Orange went “back to the mean” with a losing record last season.

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Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly with Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney
Head coaches Brian Kelly and Dabo Swinney could meet a second time in December if all goes as planned. (Rivals.com)

• There is the benefit of not having to prepare for Navy’s unsettling triple-option scheme, and there is no visit to the Los Angeles Coliseum in the finale. It is the first time since 1926 the Irish will not face the Midshipmen, and the first since 1945 they won’t match up with the rival USC Trojans.

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