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Before even having reported to campus for summer school and work outs, Eddie Vanderdoes has been granted permission by Notre Dame to leave the Fighting Irish program and will instead sign with UCLA, according to the Sacramento Bee.

Eddie Vanderdoes makes it official: Says via text that he thanks Notre Dame for lifting recruiting ban,allowing him to sign with UCLA.

— Joe Davidson (@SacBee_JoeD) June 4, 2013

In late May, news surfaced that Vanderdoes was seeking a release from Notre Dame and initially it looked as if he would not get it. Things have evidently since changed, and Vanderdoes will head to Los Angeles to begin summer school on June 24.

Though Notre Dame ultimately lifted the recruiting ban on him, they did not let him go scott-free. According to Joe Schad of ESPN, the Fighting Irish did not release Vanderdoes from his Letter of Intent and he will only be eligible for three years of play with the Bruins.

Vanderdoes cites family reasons as his motive for being willing to give up a year of football just to get out of Notre Dame, but for the Fighting Irish, this could be worrisome.

The Irish did not want to release Vanderdoes from his LOI, as they were worried that he would rejoin their rivals, USC. Though this will ultimately not be the case, this development with Vanderdoes does make things interesting for the Trojans, who are currently involved in a similar situation with five-star linebacker Matthew Thomas.

Thomas signed with Florida State in February, but made it clear even then that it was not his choice. In May, Thomas announced he was seeking a release from the university to pursue an opportunity at either USC or Georgia. That situation is still pending, but Notre Dame’s decision with Vanderdoes could influence the Seminoles to do them same, or even release Thomas entirely.

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The 2013 season is 16 weeks away, and will get underway with an interesting slate of out-of-conference games for the Pac-12. While they won’t have a marquee matchup against LSU like they have of late, the conference will play Notre Dame three times, as well as host both Ohio State and Wisconsin, while traveling to Nebraska.

Here’s how the conference’s OOC schedules look heading into the season, ranked by team, according to difficulty.

1. Arizona State

Opponents: vs. Sacramento State(FCS), vs. Wisconsin, vs. Notre Dame(Arlington,TX)
With Will Sutton back on the defensive line, the Sun Devils come into 2013 as Rose Bowl hopefuls, and face a tough slate that could help them in the polls due to a substantial strength of schedule. Despite opening with Sacramento State –who have two straight wins over Pac-12 teams– the Fighting Grahams will have their hands full with Wisconsin and Notre Dame, before tough in-conference trips to Palo Alto and Pasadena. The matchup with the 2012 runner-up Irish has to be the most intriguing, considering that just last month, Notre Dame cancelled their 2014 trip to Tempe.

2. California

Opponents: vs. Northwestern, vs. Portland State(FCS), vs. Ohio State
Like Arizona State, Cal cancels out an FCS opponent with two difficult non-conference games. Though, unlike the Sun Devils they’ll play both Northwestern and Ohio State at home, with an inexperienced roster playing under a new regime with Sonny Dykes. It doesn’t bode well for the Bears, as they face what are probably the two best coached teams in Big Ten.

3. UCLA

Opponents: vs. Nevada, at Nebraska, vs. New Mexico State
The Bruins face a murderer’s row of teams on the road this year, with in-conference trips to Stanford, Arizona, USC and Oregon. But the road worries all start with a trip to Lincoln in September, which is immediately preceded by a solid test out of the gate from Nevada. The Nebraska game is the one everyone’s circled, but Nevada is a dangerous season opener, even at the Rose Bowl. Mora’s bunch is very talented, but they need a good trip through September to have a stand-out season, and could be in a for a bumpy ride.

4. Washington

Opponents: vs. Boise State, vs. Illinois(Chicago), vs. Idaho State(FCS)
The Huskies lost to Boise State in the Las Vegas Bowl last December, and now get the honor of hosting the Broncos to open the newly-renovated Husky Stadium. It won’t be easy, especially with a medium-tough trip to Solider Field waiting in September. That said, at least Keith Price and company aren’t headed to Baton Rouge this season.

5. Stanford

Opponents: vs. San Jose State, at Army, vs. Notre Dame
Typically, facing San Jose State and Army in the same season would be grounds for eye rolls and blowouts, especially considering that Stanford could be a national title game contender come November. But don’t discount the Spartans in week 1, as they won 11 games in 2012 and nearly defeated a Josh Nunes-led Cardinal team in Palo Alto last year. Oh, and Notre Dame’s bi-annual trip to the Farm won’t be a creampuff, either.

6. Oregon

Opponents: vs. Nicholls State(FCS), at Virginia, vs. Tennessee
Give credit to the Ducks for routinely scheduling good out-of-conference games, as they’ve played Michigan, Oklahoma, Boise State and LSU in the last decade, and now conclude a home-and-home series with Tennessee. Luckily for UO though, they get both the Vols and Virginia when they don’t have many expectations, making for an OOC schedule similar to last year’s, when they faced Arkansas State, Fresno State and Tennessee Tech.

7. USC

Opponents: at Hawai’i, vs. Boston College, vs. Utah State, at Notre Dame
A trip to Hawai’i means an extra home game by NCAA rule, and the Trojans probably weren’t expecting Utah State to be coming off of an 11-2 season when they signed a contract with the Aggies for the game back in 2010. And considering how USC likes to play one solid BCS opponent per year, the same yet opposite could be said about Boston College, a program that has really fallen on hard times since the game was drawn up years ago. Having said that, USC will be favored in three of the four non-conference games, and they’ll need to win them to gain confidence going into the Notre Dame game in mid-October.

8. Utah

Opponents: vs. Utah State, vs. Weber State(FCS), at BYU
Utah’s non-conference school reads like a Salt Lake City sportscaster’s dream, as the Utes will play all three non-conference games against the three other Salt Lake area teams. The big one of course, is that trip to Provo. Not only will it be BYU and Utah’s most anticipated game of the year, it’ll be awfully emotional and perhaps the most anticipated dreaded game of the decade, as the long-time rivals won’t play again until 2016.

9. Washington State

Opponents: at Auburn, vs. Southern Utah(FCS), vs. Idaho
Outside of Auburn still being a member of the SEC and playing in a stadium as hostile as any in the country, Mike Leach’s Cougs don’t have that daunting of an early schedule. Washington State should be improved in 2013 given that it’s year two under Leach, and three wins out of the shoot could be doable if the Cougars can get the best of Auburn, who open the Gus Malzahn era by facing WSU.

10. Oregon State

Opponents: vs. Eastern Washington(FCS), vs. Hawaii, at San Diego State
Last year, the Beavers opened up the year 7-0 for the first time ever. This year they could very well duplicate it, as the In’n'Out aficionados open with three winnable games to start. Mike Riley will be astutely aware of San Diego State’s potential however, especially at Jack Murphy.

11. Colorado

Opponents: vs.Colorado State(at Denver), at Central Arkansas(FCS), vs. Fresno State
Outside of the worries that Derek Carr bring to the table, Colorado’s non-conference schedule probably wouldn’t keep many coaches at night. Unfortunately for the Buffaloes however, they could very easily go winless in them. Colorado State beat the Buffs last year and Central Arkansas finished the 2012 season ranked No. 8 in the FCS. Let’s see how Mike MacIntyre does in Boulder.

12. Arizona

Opponents: vs. Northern Arizona(FCS), at UNLV, vs. Texas-San Antonio
Arizona fell just short of scheduling the Cochise County YMCA All-Stars this year. But given that the Wildcats have had a reputation of continuously over-strengthening their non-conference schedule, a year with the three easiest gimmies in the country might not be a bad idea. It’ll at least give former USC quarterback Jesse Scroggins some playing time in low-pressure situations, whether it be in relief or not.

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With the eight-game conference schedule bantered about in an attempt to even the playing field with the SEC and produce more bowl eligible teams, some believe that it would bring an increase in FCS games in the Pac-12. Should that happen, USC could enter uncharted territory, and wind up playing a team like Sacramento State.

Since Washington played host to FCS Champion Eastern Washington in 2011, USC became been one of just three FBS teams to never play an FCS opponent. Ironically, the trio included rivals UCLA and Notre Dame. But now, with the expansion of the FBS subdivision, that can no longer be said. At least for the time being.

UMass, South Alabama, Texas State and Texas-San Antonio all played their first season in the FBS in 2012, and three of the four played FCS opponents right off the bat.

Larry Coker’s UTSA Roadrunners actually played three games against the lower subdivision, including a tilt against almighty Northwest Oklahoma State, in which they won 56-3.

Only UMass played an all-FBS schedule in their first season, scheduling power conference foes Michigan, Indiana, UConn and Vanderbilt. This year however, the Minutemen are set to face Maine of the FCS in September, once again isolating USC, UCLA and Notre Dame among FBS schools.

As for the Pac-12, the conference historically has a track record of not giving FCS opponents much thought, a stark contrast to the ACC, who has amassed a record 254 games against the FCS.

Washington only caved when the Pac-12 brought forth divisional play in 2011, and just four schools have played more than 10 games against the FCS.

Interestingly enough, while Arizona and Arizona State have combined to go 20-0 against the FCS, much of that has come at the hands of Arizona lawmakers, who have pressured the two Pac-12 schools to schedule Northern Arizona. Since 2002, NAU has played Arizona or Arizona State every year, and have alternated between trips to Tucson and Tempe since 2005.

As a whole, the Pac-12 has played 112 games against the FCS since Division I split into two subdivisions in 1978, playing to a record of 103-9. In that same time frame, that SEC has played 192 games vs. FCS foes, while the Big Ten has had fewer, at 111.

Of the Pac-12′s nine losses, five have come to Oregon State, with the most recent being a 29-28 overtime loss to the aforementioned Sacramento State in 2011. Those same Hornets beat Colorado last season on a last second field goal, and are scheduled to play at Arizona State this September.

An increase in television revenue, the 12 game schedule that was put in place a decade ago and the Pac-12′s divisional format have all given teams reasons to schedule FCS teams. Whether or not USC and UCLA snap their streak remains to be seen, but for now, they remain on the bottom of the conference’s standings against the lower rung.

Here’s how the Pac-12 has fared against the FCS since 1978: