There are some gradual changes in store for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish as the 2014 college football season opens this weekend. Perhaps the most talked about will come during week two as Notre Dame hosts Michigan for the last time until at least 2020.
After the University of Notre Dame decided to relocate all of it’s sports (except football and hockey) to the Atlantic Coast Conference, schedule-makers scrambled to align Irish Football with ACC teams. This meant the possibility of relinquishing one or two traditional rivalry games. After the 2014 contest, the Notre Dame vs Michigan will be dropped like a hot potato.
When the Irish exercised their option to leave the Big East two years early, the 2013 game between the two powerhouses became the penultimate meeting. The buildup to the September 7th game was rife with smack-talk and insults. It didn’t help matters much when Irish Head Coach Brian Kelly said that his team’s meeting with Michigan was not ‘one of those historic, traditional Notre Dame rivalries.’ After the Irish fell to the Wolverines 41-30, Michigan Stadium blared the “Chicken Dance” as the maize and blue faithful danced a jig in the stands, taking their cue from Brady Hoke’s claim that Notre Dame was ‘chickening out’ of the rivalry.
Before I get into the more important reasons why Michigan was dropped, let’s add a little more historical perspective to the alleged controversial move. The first cessation of the rivalry came after the 1888 season, after which the Irish and the Wolverines did not meet again for ten years. The second break came in 1902 when the two teams did not play one another until the 1908 season. The third drought began in 1910, during which time Michigan Head Coach Fielding Yost accused two of Knute Rockne’s Irish players of being ineligible to play, cancelling the 1910 series and refusing to reschedule later dates. As a result of the snub by Michigan and the rest of the Western Conference (today’s Big Ten), Notre Dame instead scheduled games with east and west coast opponents to fill their empty calendars. Notre Dame would not schedule a game with Michigan for more than three decades. The fourth and latest hiatus arrived after the 1943 game. This void last until the 1978 “Reunion Game.”
For all the bickering over why Notre Dame decided to drop Michigan, one must accept the fact that some rivalries must go. Partial schedules for the 2018-2020 seasons reveal just what Notre Dame is intending to do with it’s new affiliation. Plans for those seasons leave room for at least five ACC meetings, with the 2019 list showing a headline-making matchup between the Irish and their only scheduled regular season game with an SEC opponent, Georgia.
As Notre Dame and Michigan fans continue to toss backbiting and innuendo back and forth while their final meeting draws closer on September 6th, the Irish will be on the precipice of their fifth break with the Wolverines. No matter the reasons for past absences, Notre Dame is striking forward with a change that will undoubtedly alter their program as they will soon find themselves in the company of defending BCS Champion Florida State and top-ranked Clemson. This change could also add to the strength in schedule assessment that a 13 member selection committee will consider as they choose teams to play in the first College Football Playoff.
After all is said and done, Michigan should not bellyache about losing a rival again. They must see that Notre Dame is acclimating with the times that are definitely a-changin’.
“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” –Walt Disney
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