There is and always will be.

The deck is always stacked against ND has been since Knute was a player. Therein is found some of the glories that makes Notre Dame special. Odds great or small Notre Dame will win over all. It used to not be lip service.

I don't mind bench marking against other great schools, but in the end Notre Dame can only compare it's current self against it's past. If ND just aims to be another top 10 school in all aspects, let's just let the lay board take over, drop the Catholicism, go co-ed dorms, and become full members of a conference and stop pretending to have aspects that make ND different or special.