3 reasons why Notre Dame and Michigan should always play

Notre Dame football against Michigan is one of the greatest rivalries in college football and the two teams need to play each year as they used to. 

College football realignment has been all the rage this summer and it’s been a hot topic. It’s been especially so ever since the Big Ten announced its additions of USC and UCLA.

Since then, Notre Dame football has been a huge topic of conversation as everyone sees the Irish as the next shoe to drop.

Many have speculated that Notre Dame football will eventually join the Big Ten, but it seems as though the Irish are committed to being independent. That will largely depend on playoff expansion or at least access because if Notre Dame needs to be in a conference to be part of a playoff, even if it’s just between the SEC and Big Ten, my guess is it will happen.

Outside of that, Notre Dame probably doesn’t need a league. It gets marquee matchups with the ACC and with NBC poised to land some Big Ten games, in addition to the Irish, we could see the return of the Notre Dame-Michigan rivalry, at least according to John Ourand.

Some fans are against the idea and some are for it — on both sides. But here’s why it makes sense for both Michigan football and Notre Dame.

It’s a resume builder

Michigan and Notre Dame have been top-15 programs for the better part of the last decade and going forward, both should be in playoff contention regularly, especially if the field is ever expanded beyond just four teams.

For Notre Dame, Michigan makes sense because it’s always a marquee game. The schedule is always tough and the Irish are playing Ohio State, Clemson, USC, and BYU this season. Does it really need to add Michigan?

It’s a fair point but beating the Wolverines or Michigan beating Notre Dame, provides either team with a spark. Michigan-Notre Dame is always one of the most-watched games in college football and if both programs keep going the way they have been, there would be some really good matchups, with plenty at stake for both sides.

A win would serve as a huge boost for either program and while they would each want to adjust their scheduling to accommodate it, Michigan showed in 2018 that you can recover from an early-season loss to Notre Dame and if that team beat Ohio State, it probably would have gone to the playoff.

The Irish were one spot from the playoff a year ago after a home loss, so it’s reasonable to assume losing to Michigan wouldn’t hurt Notre Dame that much. Instead, if the Wolverines won the Big Ten, as they did last season, it would be a feather in Notre Dame’s cap.

If Notre Dame wants to avoid playing in a conference, that’s fine, but it needs to schedule as many top-notch opponents it can, especially with a four-team playoff and Michigan should be included in that.