Michigan's AD says the extension that was agreed upon back in 2007 to continue the ND/UM rivalry is not finalized:

http://irish.nbcsports.com/2010/05/brandon-michigan-notre-dame-extension-not-finalized.html.php

All I can say is........WHY NOT?

If I was Tsun I would drop ND. Its time to play someone else. In most years this is the only meaningful out of conference game Tsun plays. Most schools only want one tough out conference game and I think Tsun needs to face different teams every two years.(home and home). This game is starting to get a little stale. If Tsun played other top teams I think it would attract more national atention for them.

^^^^^You're kidding, right? How can you say this series is stale, it's the two winningest programs in CFB history and rarely is it not entertaining.

^^^Things get stale unless its a TRUE rivalry. I truly believe its in Tsuns best interest to drop ND. Playing another team would bring more excitement. (as long as its a national power) And lets face it on the field ND hasnt done well for the 15 years or so. Tsun would better off playing Oklahoma, Texas, LSU etc. That would bring a ton excitement to Ann Arbor. ND doesnt carry that right now.

^^^^^

Clown

Sounds like the big 10 wants to use that to pressure ND to join.

Yea but bringing in those 3 teams would be an L. At least they're 50/50 to get a W with us

While Michigan has won 3 of the last 4.......they're 3-3 in the last 6 games of the rivalry (4-4 in the last 8, 5-5 in the last 10). Neither team has won more than 2 in a row in the series since ND won 4 in a row against the Maize & Blue from 1987-'90. It's definitely still a true rivalry. Nothing stale about a series this close and neither team dominating the rivalry over the last 10 years.

As a Michigan fan, I want to keep it and play a mid/upper mid BCS school

This year they've got UConn, ND, UMass and BG.

I'm fine with home and homes vs. the likes of Clemson, BC, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Colorado, KSU, The AZ, OR, WA schools out of the PAC-10. I think by doing this, you replace the BIG games like OSU-USC, Bama-VaTech....

insuranceguy should stick to insurance.

Claiming Michigan needs to play other powers because they only want one tough game so they should at least mix it up....and then saying Notre Dame isn't any good. Hmmmmmmm.

I'd hate to not see ND and Mich play. I wish the Bucks had a non-conference rival like that.

insuranceguy wrote: ^^^Things get stale unless its a TRUE rivalry. I truly believe its in Tsuns best interest to drop ND. Playing another team would bring more excitement. (as long as its a national power) And lets face it on the field ND hasnt done well for the 15 years or so. Tsun would better off playing Oklahoma, Texas, LSU etc. That would bring a ton excitement to Ann Arbor. ND doesnt carry that right now.

I've heard it all now.

Yeah I hope this gets finalized. Definitely my favorite game of the year is the ND/Mich matchup. Anyone who says this isn't a true rivalry just doesn't get the sport.

Also, in years past, UM has also played other tough OOC games correct? I remember Oregon on their schedule not too long ago.

This is one of my favorite non-Buckeye games of every college FB season. UM needs to get tihs done asap.

Hamp89 wrote: Yeah I hope this gets finalized. Definitely my favorite game of the year is the ND/Mich matchup. Anyone who says this isn't a true rivalry just doesn't get the sport.

Also, in years past, UM has also played other tough OOC games correct? I remember Oregon on their schedule not too long ago.

Yes, we've done a home and home with Oregon, Washington, UCLA, and Colorado over the past 15 years. The last 3 occurred when the opponent was somewhat relevant in CFB... ass opposed to the Washington, UCLA, Colorado you see today.

insuranceguy wrote: ^^^Things get stale unless its a TRUE rivalry. I truly believe its in Tsuns best interest to drop ND. Playing another team would bring more excitement. (as long as its a national power) And lets face it on the field ND hasnt done well for the 15 years or so. Tsun would better off playing Oklahoma, Texas, LSU etc. That would bring a ton excitement to Ann Arbor. ND doesnt carry that right now.

This is one of the most misguided and ignorant statements I've read on here in a while. I'm a Buckeye fan but I think that this is a good rivalry that needs to continue (although I'd prefer that it continue as a conference rivalry). These are the two winningest programs in college football history and two of the oldest college football programs. It would be a tragedy for these two teams to stop playing regularly. Yes, these two programs have been down in recent years, but let's not forget that these two programs have only been irrelevant (as far as the national picture goes) for a few short years. In 2006 Michigan was ranked as high as #2 and was 4 points away from playing for the National Championship. Notre Dame finished ranked in the top ten as recently as 2005. Yes, these teams both seem far far from prominence and national relevance at the moment, but they haven't been in this position for very long.

I will say however, that there is merit in considering other OOC opponents for national exposure. While this is a big rivalry, it is a Midwestern rivalry. Does the rest of the country pay attention to this game? Yes, especially when both teams are good. Do they pay as much attention as they would if Michigan scheduled OOC games like Ohio State has against teams like USC, Miami, and Texas? Nope, at least not outside this part of the country. However, as previously stated, Michigan has scheduled OOC games against Oregon, Washington, UCLA, and Colorado (I'll even throw in Utah) in recent years, which has given them more national exposure. My guess is that since they play ND every year, they aren't looking to book a top national BCS team out of conference every year, but only every few years.

I just looked and was actually surprised to see that we didn't play ND in 2000 or 2001. They were back on the schedule in 2002, but we haven't played them 2 times since 1997.

I guess it wouldn't be THAT big of a deal if there was a 1-2 year hiedous(sp).

The thing I don't get is why we don't schedule games earlier. A lot of schools know what their OOC games are a few years in advance (see OSU). Michigan on the other hand just has ND and struggles to get 3 more.

krambman wrote:While this is a big rivalry, it is a Midwestern rivalry. Does the rest of the country pay attention to this game? Yes, especially when both teams are good. Do they pay as much attention as they would if Michigan scheduled OOC games like Ohio State has against teams like USC, Miami, and Texas? Nope, at least not outside this part of the country.

I disagree with this part of your post. ND is a "national" team, they have fans from coast to coast. Also, their recruiting base is nation wide, same can be said for Michigan.

rock_knutne wrote:

krambman wrote:While this is a big rivalry, it is a Midwestern rivalry. Does the rest of the country pay attention to this game? Yes, especially when both teams are good. Do they pay as much attention as they would if Michigan scheduled OOC games like Ohio State has against teams like USC, Miami, and Texas? Nope, at least not outside this part of the country.

I disagree with this part of your post. ND is a "national" team, they have fans from coast to coast. Also, their recruiting base is nation wide, same can be said for Michigan.

Okay, let me clarify what I meant by a Midwestern rivalry. Obviously both schools, like any large school or major football program, has fans all over the country, and obviously those fans will watch this game, just as they would any game their team is playing in. What I mean is that outside of the Midwest, there isn't much of an interest in watching this game by people who aren't fans of either team. When Ohio State played Texas, or USC, college football fans, regardless of affiliation tuned in to watch those games. My guess is that isn't the case when Michigan and Notre Dame play. When I talk about something being regional or national I'm talking in terms of the average college football fans interest, not someone who's a fan of the teams involved.

I think it would be big if Michigan, Purdue, and MSU all threatened to not renew their contracts with Notre Dame to pressure them into reconsidering their independent status.

krazie45 wrote: I think it would be big if Michigan, Purdue, and MSU all threatened to not renew their contracts with Notre Dame to pressure them into reconsidering their independent status.

lol

krambman

I know this isn't the point of this thread, but wouldn't you consider your examples of OSU/TX OSU/USC more "global" because of the demographics. Those are essentially East Coast vs. West Coast Games. Also, those games were primetime ABC games. Will there be more interest next year(2011) when ND comes to Michigan at night and it's ABC's Saturday Night Primetime game?

I agree with the fact that it's a Midwest rivalry but not due to the teams' talent. I think it's more about demographics and sheer timing of the game.

krambman wrote:

rock_knutne wrote:

krambman wrote:While this is a big rivalry, it is a Midwestern rivalry. Does the rest of the country pay attention to this game? Yes, especially when both teams are good. Do they pay as much attention as they would if Michigan scheduled OOC games like Ohio State has against teams like USC, Miami, and Texas? Nope, at least not outside this part of the country.

I disagree with this part of your post. ND is a "national" team, they have fans from coast to coast. Also, their recruiting base is nation wide, same can be said for Michigan.

Okay, let me clarify what I meant by a Midwestern rivalry. Obviously both schools, like any large school or major football program, has fans all over the country, and obviously those fans will watch this game, just as they would any game their team is playing in. What I mean is that outside of the Midwest, there isn't much of an interest in watching this game by people who aren't fans of either team. When Ohio State played Texas, or USC, college football fans, regardless of affiliation tuned in to watch those games. My guess is that isn't the case when Michigan and Notre Dame play. When I talk about something being regional or national I'm talking in terms of the average college football fans interest, not someone who's a fan of the teams involved.

I still don't agree with your thinking on this. The ND/UM game has a huge national interest even to the average fan. There's a reason this game receives national coverage and it's the ratings, even with both programs in a down period.

kahuna and rock,

I get what you are saying and to an extent I agree. Kahuna, you actually made my point for me. I'm not saying that there isn't as much interest nationally with the ND/Michigan game because of the level of talent, but because they are about 3 hours apart, hence it being primarily of regional interest. When top programs fly cross country for an inter-sectional game, like the ones OSU has had recently, there is more interest nationally from the average college football fan. It has everything to do with demographics. Obviously since Notre Dame is independent they play a national schedule every year. Michigan on the other hand occasionally plays another formidable national opponent out of conference, but not as often as some other schools since they play a top (usually) BCS opponent out of conference in Notre Dame.

While I disagree with most of what insuranceguy is saying, I was arguing that there was some merit to it because of Michigan were to drop Notre Dame and begin scheduling some more top out of conference opponents from around the country in their place, much the way OSU has (Texas, USC, Miami, Cal, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma, Tennessee) then they would get more national exposure to the average football fan. Your average SEC football fan isn't watching Notre Dame vs. Michigan (yes, when it's in prime time on ABC more will watch), but they would watch Michigan play Florida State or Texas.

Well I'm glad we agree lol.

I still stand by my statement of keeping ND and scheduling a mid BCS.

I will say though that the 2 years ND wasn't on the schedule, we played UCLA and Wasignton respectivley. They were both ranked in the top 15 when we played them. The year we played UCLA (2000) we also played Hawaii, so that could be why we didn't play ND. 2001, I have no idea why.

In 2002, we played #11 Washington and #20 ND WMU and Utah.... A fairly decent OOC schedule. We've done it in the past, so I don't see why we couldnt do it again (ND and another decent BCS opponent)