They need the boost in SOS since they don't play a conference championship. They have traditionally had a weak schedule with the exception of 3 or 4 tough teams. So this year's one loss to FSU has knocked them out of the Championship series in most people's opinion..... I like playing them again too.
As to the games being scheduled so far out, other than the first two, the next ones are in light pencil. ND will have to join the ACC in football if they want to get into a super conference and also to have a conference championship game at the end of the season to get them into the 4 team series.
I like how tough our schedule has become. It will not be good for the W/L at first but will help develop our players and program back to the top and get us a lot more national attention.