Where Would Notre Dame Football Finish in the Big 12 This Season?

What if Notre Dame was in the new and reconfigured Big 12 this season? Would it be a lock to win the Big 12 title?

Mascots gather for a photo at the Big 12 Conference's media day at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on July 9, 2024. / Michelle Gardner/The Republic / USA

How Would Notre Dame Football Do in the Big 12 This Season? ND on SI Noon Question

What if the 2024 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football program got sucked into the Big 12 like those four Pac-12 (skypoint) schools did? How what it do, would it be a lock to win the conference title, and would it be better off than it is with its current schedule?

We weigh in on our daily think-tank thing, the ND on SI Noon Question

Notre Dame would win the Big 12 Championship

Rich Cirminiello
@RichCirminiello

On top.

If Notre Dame was in the Big 12 this season, it would win a conference title for the first time in program history.

Listen, I LOVE this realigned Big 12. It makes relative geographic sense, there are a bunch of fantastic rivalries, and no league has so much parity.

The Big 12 is gonna be F-U-N from start to finish. However, it lacks a legit national championship contender.

ND would be that team… not Utah, not K-State, not Oklahoma State. No one. The Irish would instantly be the league’s top D, and the offense would be in the discussion as well. From top to bottom, Notre Dame would have the best athletes and deepest roster.

It would sweep the conference unless it faced the Utes in Sack Lake City. Utah would win that game, 28-27, on a Cam Rising keeper late in the fourth.

Notre Dame would PROBABLY play for the Big 12 Championship

Pete Fiutak
@PeteFiutak

I’m not 100% sold Notre Dame would be any better off than it is right now with its Friends With Benefits ACC schedule.

Right now, the Irish play Louisville, Stanford, at Georgia Tech, Florida State, Virginia with its ACC slate. Let’s spin the wheel on Big 12 Random Schedule and it comes up … Texas Tech.

Arizona State, Cincinnati, at Arizona, Baylor, at TCU, at Iowa State, Colorado, at Oklahoma State, West Virginia - that’s the Red Raider Big 12 schedule, missing BYU, Houston, Kansas State, Utah (THAT’S the biggie), and UCF.

Notre Dame is better than all of those Big 12 teams on the Red Raider slate, but at Arizona and at Oklahoma State are 50/50 games.

The rest of the Big 12 is a weekly landmine to sidestep - the bottom-feeders improved. Combine that with the Notre Dame game at Texas A&M to open the season and the USC game to end it, and the same 10-2ish prediction sort of stands.

But that’s not the question.

Where would Notre Dame finish in the Big 12 this season? Either in the top two playing for the Big 12 Championship - which isn’t a given win against Utah, or whatever team is in instead of Utah - or No. 3, in which case there would be a big, big problem for the CFP chase.

Notre Dame would be the favorite in the Big 12, but ...

Nick Shepkowski
@NickShepkowski

Notre Dame would certainly be the favorite but the grind of this conference is going to be something to behold. How many of Utah, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, and Arizona does Notre Dame get at home, away, or off the schedule? The Big 12 won’t be the best conference this fall but I have a hard time seeing another conference being as competitive or entertaining.

That’s a long way of saying that Notre Dame would enter its year in the Big 12 as a slight favorite but by no means a runaway. It would be favorites in nearly every game but like with the Ohio State-Duke-Louisville run last year, the grind of the schedule could certainly complicate things.

Big 12 Expansion: Is there ANY shot at Notre Dame? What 2 schools should the Big 12 target?

Notre Dame on SI Noon Questions

Notre Dame's best case scenario this season

Notre Dame's worst case scenario this season

Should the Irish open with Texas A&M, or a tune-up?