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Michigan AD wants to resume football rivalry with Notre Dame

By Patrick Schmidt

Sep 6, 2014; South Bend, IN, USA; Michigan Wolverines quarterback Devin Gardner (98) attempts to escape pressure from Notre Dame Fighting Irish defensive lineman Daniel Cage (75) in the fourth quarter at Notre Dame Stadium. Notre Dame won 31-0. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 6, 2014; South Bend, IN, USA; Michigan Wolverines quarterback Devin Gardner (98) attempts to escape pressure from Notre Dame Fighting Irish defensive lineman Daniel Cage (75) in the fourth quarter at Notre Dame Stadium. Notre Dame won 31-0. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Michigan Wolverines and Notre Dame Fighting Irish could be resuming their rivalry on the football soon.

College football has seen some great rivalries die as a result of conference realignment, including Michigan and Notre Dame ending their series last year. This was the first time since 2001 that the two prestigious programs didn’t meet and only the sixth time in the last 36 years, but there’s a chance the two powerhouses could get each other back on the schedule in the near future.

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“If there are opportunities in the future to bring the rivalry on the football field back, obviously I’d be open to having that conversation,” Warde Manuel told ESPN.com. “It’s not only great for Michigan and Notre Dame football, I think it’s great for college football for that rivalry to continue at some point in the future, so we’ll see where that goes.”

This coincides with comments made by Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly last year when he said talks to resume the rivalry were trending up and Manuel is right, these two bluebloods of college football playing again is great for college football.

Hopefully, they’ll be able to make it work.

Michigan has an opening for a nonconference game in 2018 and 2019 and again in 2021, but that could be tough to fit in Notre Dame with Virginia Tech and Washington already on the schedule and their nine-game Big Ten slate.

Notre Dame’s side of the coin could be more tricky considering they had to drop Michigan from the schedule so they could make room for five ACC opponents in addition to their rivalry games with USC, Stanford and Navy.

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There’s always the chance they could drop one of these future agreements but would it be worthwhile to drop an inferior opponent for a game they could lose and see their College Football Playoff hopes take a significant blow?

The logistics are why athletic directors get paid the big bucks, but hopefully, these two programs can find a way to schedule a home-and-home series in the near future. And preferably while Kelly and Jim Harbaugh are still on the sidelines.

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