The way things look, just under three months before the start of the 2024 college football season, Thanksgiving weekend could be a big one for Notre Dame.
If the Fighting Irish do what’s expected and maneuver through their first 11 games without more than one loss, then that trip to the west coast to USC It will almost certainly have college football playoff implications.
But couldn’t this game be played in prime time?
It’s hard to imagine, but according to Action Sports Network’s Brett McMurphy, NBC (which holds the broadcast rights to the game this year) appears to prefer a different West Coast matchup that night.
Preferred NBC primetime programming sources said @ActionNetworkHQ
September 21 Iowa at Minnesota
September 28, Illinois at Penn St
October 5 Michigan at Washington
October 12th Ohio St in Oregon
October 19th Iowa at Michigan St
October 26 Penn St in Wisconsin
November 2 USC at Washington
November 9 FSU at Notre Dame
November…-Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) June 3, 2024
It’s a typo like the Oregon vs. washington the game will be played in Oregon this year, but still interesting.
It doesn’t matter to me what time you put Notre Dame on and sometimes I agree Marcus Freeman that it would be good to take the Irish out of prime time as often as they do.
Notre Dame It is USC It is almost always played in prime time. In fact, since 2010, only the 2014 and 2016 meetings have not been played in primetime and Notre Dame entered those regular season finals with a combined score of 11-11 (7-4 in 2014, 4-7 in 2016). It will be a huge disappointment if the Irish go into that game with a record close to either of these.
Oregon could realistically end its first Big Ten regular season with a berth in the conference championship game on the line that night. I understand the appeal there, and that NBC doesn’t seem to want to feature the same team in primetime on consecutive Saturdays (one wants USC to be featured vs. UCLA the week before), but the additional national audience that Notre Dame with a playoff appearance on the line would bring will be hard to pass up.
Related: An early look at Notre Dame’s 2024 football schedule