Michigan and Notre Dame Got It Right
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by Tyduffy
Despite speculation that both teams would let the agreement lapse in 2011, Michigan and Notre Dame have agreed on a new contract to continue their annual rivalry a further 20 years, until the 2031 season. Michigan and Notre Dame are College Football's two winningest, and perhaps most iconic programs. Though they only met twice between 1909-1977, the already existent regional rivalry has helped intensify the game on the gridiron, which has occurred 23 times in the past 29 seasons. Michigan leads the all-time series 19-14-1.
This was a brilliant move by both universities. For both schools, this is a game that fans and alumni circle on the calendar. There is an enormous amount of bad blood accross the board from football to academics. Their massive fanbases overlap (much more than Michigan-Ohio St.), and each considers the other to be the epitome of arrogance. It has an absolutely electric atmosphere.
Both schools have had rivalries fall by the wayside, such as those epic Notre Dame battles against Army and Navy and Michigan's domination of The Little Brown Jug. This game largely fills that gap for both schools.
It has all the qualities of a great rivalry. The game is almost always close, no matter what the disparity on paper between the teams. You can trace back the epic moments (see Desmond Howard) over the past 30 seasons. It is just a great game.
Perhaps, the final reason is this. They have played eachother almost non-stop for the past 30 years. It doesn't have the numbers of the other rivalries, but for an entire generation of fans at both schools it has become tradition.
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