Notre Dame Dropping Michigan From Schedule, Excercising Out Clause After 2014
By Ty Duffy
Things have changed with the ACC agreement. Notre Dame has told Michigan it plans to exercise its three-year out clause. Their last scheduled game will be in 2014. The schools had agreed in 2007 to extend the series through 2031. They had agreed to a hiatus in 2018-19.
This was inevitable with changing climates and both schools needing scheduling flexibility. Notre Dame has too many rivalries to sustain with the ACC commitment. Though the idea has cooled off, the Big Ten should move to a nine-game conference schedule at some point in the next decade.
Both programs will be fine after this. Notre Dame will find enough marquee opponents to satiate NBC. Michigan, likely, will replace Notre Dame with games against Pac 12 teams. Football will go on. This will disappoint both schools’ fans, who are natural rivals. This should disappoint general college football fans who enjoy legitimate, regional rivalries ahead of trumped up TV spectacles.
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