Navy’s loss to Notre Dame shows why strength of schedule must matter

Up until this point, Navy’s success has been one of the best stories in college football. But unfortunately for those who love the underdog spoiling the party, Navy’s 51-14 loss to Notre Dame on Saturday afternoon exposed the Midshipmen’s 6-0 start to the season. 

Navy entered the week ranked No. 24 by both the Associated Press and Coaches Poll and was looking for the school’s first 7-0 start to the season since 1978. Navy was even coming off a blowout win of their own, beating Charlotte 51-17. There was even hope Navy could truly be a national contender for the first time in decades — the service academies once owned college football but have been an afterthought during the modern eras of the sport. 

Navy’s 6-0 start sparked some hype to hosting a Notre Dame team that some argued was overrated as evident by their loss to Northern Illinois in Week 2. However, the Fighting Irish quickly popped the balloon in that hype and made easy work of Navy. 

In addition to winning most key categories in the game like first downs (20 to 17) and total yards (466 to 311), Notre Dame forced five turnovers. There was no question about who was the better team and who was overrated after the game. 

And what happened on Saturday proves Navy was simply taking advantage of an easy schedule while undefeated. Now 6-1, Navy’s six wins are over Bucknell, Temple, Memphis, UAB, Air Force and the previously mentioned Charlotte. Out of the teams, only Memphis has a winning record. And Memphis (also 6-1) only has one win over a team with a winning record themselves. 

It’s safe to say Navy wouldn’t have been able to start 6-0 and crawl into the rankings if faced with a more daunting schedule. Fortunately for the Midshipmen, Notre Dame is actually the only major program, or non Group of 5/FCS-level school, on Navy’s entire schedule all season, so the odds of the Midshipmen finishing with a big win total are still pretty high. 

And while it’s still a decent story to have an historic program and an important institution like Navy eligible for a bowl for the first time in five years, that doesn’t mean Navy is all of a sudden back among college football’s elite and worthy of national rankings or consideration for the College Football Playoff. 

A look at recent history further examiners the impact of a schedule. Those who try to legitimize UCF’s controversial claim of a 2017 national championship and scream about the Knights undefeated record usually fail to mention they played a schedule that ranked in the back half of the top 100 for difficulty by most outlets. For example, UCF was placed at No. 84 in the country for schedule strength on the ESPN FPI (Football Power Index). 

Looking back at the landscape in 2017, UCF only played one “Power” program, Auburn in the Peach Bowl. The actual national champion, Alabama, not only won the College Football Playoff, but was ranked as a consensus No. 1 by most major selectors, played 11 “Power” schools and beat five ranked teams. 

Yes, Alabama did lose to Auburn, who UCF defeated in a bowl game, but there’s no denying the Crimson Tide endured a tougher schedule and posted a better body-of-work resume overall. 

It’s impossible to have a system that requires every team across FBS play an equally balanced schedule. But with that said, examples like UCF in 2017 and Navy and Liberty in 2024  — Liberty was unbeaten before falling in embarrassing fashion to previously winless Kennesaw State — show strength of schedule has to always be an important factor in evaluating college football teams.