One consistent talking point going into the 2008 season is how much easier this year's schedule will be compared to last.  But, will it?

Yes, last year was brutal: The first 10 teams ND faced went on to play bowl games, leaving only Duke and Stanford left for the Irish to start a two-game win streak heading into this year.  I haven't done the research on this statement, but I'm pretty darn sure no other team faced 10 straight bowl teams to start last year.

WARNING: EXTREME ADDITION AHEAD!

I won't argue against this year's schedule being easier than the last, but after reading an article on Irish Eyes, (thank God for that 12 weeks for 10 bucks deal to get me through 'til the season starts) I'm not sure how much easier it will be.

The article lists probable records for each team heading into their respective match-ups with the Irish.  Here's a quick recap:

In this case BCW and BCL stand for Best Case Wins and Best Case Losses.  Likewise, WCW and WCL are Worst Case Wins and Losses.  Best and Worst being relative to ND (the fewer wins for our opponents the better).

If things fall the right way for our opponents this year we could be facing some very confident teams, and a confident team is a dangerous team, especially when you step into their house.  The Irish could be on the road facing teams with a combined 32-9 record.  Yeesh.

Look, I'm not saying, I'm just saying...we could be facing a 2-0 Michigan, a 3-0 MSU, a 3-0 Purdue, a 5-0 UNC, a 6-1 Pitt, a 6-2 BC and a 10-0 USC.  Of all those possibilities the first three seem most likely and the last three seem least likely (especially 5-0 UNC who would have to beat Rutgers, Miami, Va Tech and UCONN).

The swing games are the most troubling to think about.  I'll give ND 4 games with a better than 75% chance to win:  SDSU, Stanford, @Navy and Syracuse.  I'll even write off the USC game.  That leaves the following:

To hit 6-6 we have to win two of these seven; to hit 7-5 we need three.  If things go the Irish way, these teams could be a combined 18-16, and I could see the Irish taking three of these.  If things go the other way, getting two wins against confident teams would be no easy task (and believe me if Washington gets to 3-3, they'll be ecstatic).

I don't wanna be a Debbie Downer, so here's a positive note:  The schedule is a leaps and bounds better than last year.  There are a max of eight bowl teams in the schedule this year, and the four others (SDSU, Stanford, Washington and Syracuse) are spread throughout the season.  With this schedule it'll be hard for ND not to improve, but i'd be awfully careful taking the over on Vegas's projected 7 wins.