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Post being replied to

Other than "avenging" the 2011 loss... by Irisharab

...I see no value to scheduling USF as the non-conference opponent this year.

If I were the AD, I would choose do one of the following with regard to scheduling the non-conference game:

1. Choose a better quality opponent from the American Conference. In the pre-season AP poll, Cincinnati was 20th, and UCF was 21st. Both of those teams are ranked higher than any teams on our schedule except for Clemson and UNC (which was 18th in the pre-season poll). Even if ND beat Cincinnati or UCF by single digits, it would still be a win against a ranked opponent.

2. Help out a fellow Independent school, and schedule either BYU or Army. They are both hurting for games, so help one of them out.

3. If the goal is a "tune up" game that is a borderline scrimmage, then schedule a Conference USA or Sun Belt team.

Not much benefit to playing USF. USF is not as good as UCF or Cincinnati, so a win against USF won't help ND much when it comes to bowl placement or rankings.

But USF is formidable enough that it probably won't be a tune up game with the opportunity to get meaningful playing time for the second or third stringers.