ACC adds SMU to Notre Dame’s 2026 schedule

In conjunction

The Notre Dame football schedule in 2026 just got changed a little bit.

From the ACC press release:

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – The Atlantic Coast Conference, in conjunction with SMU, Virginia, and Notre Dame, has announced that SMU will play at Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, in 2026. The specific game date and time will be determined at a later date.

The Mustangs are playing the Fighting Irish in place of Virginia in order to allow the Cavaliers to agree to a two-game series with West Virginia.

I have no positive or negative things to say about this. That’s what the ACC is — a huge handful of the exact same school.

Notre Dame’s 2026 schedule is pretty interesting though. Currently there are 10 teams on Notre Dame’s schedule.

• 4 Big Ten schools.
• 5 ACC schools.
• The Navy Midshipmen.
• There is a Shamrock Series game scheduled with the Wisconsin Badgers at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.

The two remaining slots are likely to be from the Group of Five schools — but there is nothing official at all (and still a fair amount of time left to schedule).