Tweets from AP reporter Larry Lage:

#NotreDame has notified #Michigan it is exercising a 3-year out in their contract, meaning their last scheduled game will be in 2014

How do you feel about this, Webby?

I hate it. I enjoyed the rivalry. I imagine this has something to do with the promise to play 5 ACC opponents?

Scarlet_Buckeye;1280070 wrote:How do you feel about this, Webby?

I think it's a great rivalry. I don't like that they had locked into such a long contract, but I guess we don't have to worry about that now.

GoChiefs;1280072 wrote:I hate it. I enjoyed the rivalry. I imagine this has something to do with the promise to play 5 ACC opponents?

Agreed.

And yes, web....it is a great rivalry.

Not a big fan of this.

I would also assume this has something to do with the ACC agreement. But I had figured that Michigan would definitely have been one of the other 7 games on the schedule.

Too bad, as I enjoyed this game more than any other not involving OSU

If anyone watched the game last weekend, how could you be upset about this?

Well, you can probably start to put the pieces together on who is saying on the schedule.

USC, navy, Stanford...

I thought uofm would for sure be one, but this makes the schedule more manageable and probably a good move. But I loved the series, so this sucks.

I hear they are keeping Purdue and MSU because they've been playing the longer.

Michigan 40 years, Purdue and Michigan State both around 80. I wouldn't mind them keep playing Michigan but someone was going to have be dropped. I don't think they necessarily are saying they'll never play again.

I don't think anyone in CFB thinks of ND/Purdue as a good rivalry. ND/MSU maybe. Maybe. But I think most people enjoy ND/Michigan, and I would think it would make more money than the other 2.

Cue the "trolling" remarks, but this just helps bolster an already weak schedule by the Domers. When you drop powerhouses like Michigan in favor of 5 ACC schools that have collectively won like 2 BCS bowls in the past 50 years, you are softening the pot. The truth is, Michigan is a national power(in football; a global leader in academics) who's had some rough spots in the past couple of years. Notre Dame is going to drop as many of these as possible to play more cupcakes; and besides the B1G East, you can't get anymore cupcake than the ACC. I'd take the MAC over the ACC at this point.

Also, Notre Dame will fit right in with the quality of football of the ACC considering they are currently 0-3 in BCS bowl games, losing by an average of 24.33 points per game. Once again these are the facts; I report, you decide.

I'm sure they will play again. I know navy Stanford USC, and Purdue (instate rivalry) are more favored over the Michigan game. I still don't like it because I enjoyed this rivalry. I believe Texas is on the schedule starting in 2015 and 2016. So right there is 10 games not including Michigan st. The move makes sense.

sleeper;1280211 wrote:Cue the "trolling" remarks, but this just helps bolster an already weak schedule by the Domers. When you drop powerhouses like Michigan in favor of 5 ACC schools that have collectively won like 2 BCS bowls in the past 50 years, you are softening the pot. The truth is, Michigan is a national power(in football; a global leader in academics) who's had some rough spots in the past couple of years. Notre Dame is going to drop as many of these as possible to play more cupcakes; and besides the B1G East, you can't get anymore cupcake than the ACC. I'd take the MAC over the ACC at this point.

Also, Notre Dame will fit right in with the quality of football of the ACC considering they are currently 0-3 in BCS bowl games, losing by an average of 24.33 points per game. Once again these are the facts; I report, you decide.

Thanks Fox News.

The more I think about it...the more this bugs me. Look at this year's schedule. ND already had 3 teams that are in the ACC (and 1 that will be soon). They could have swapped a team like Florida State, or Georgia Tech, or Va Tech in the BYU spot...kept Purdue, Michigan, Michigan State, USC, Stanford, and Navy, and left room for a "big name" game like Oklahoma, or Texas that they have scheduled in the coming years.

The only thing I can think of is one of two things.
1. ND is doing their schedule solely for recruiting purposes. Dropping Michigan opens up a spot to play another Big 12 team. They would have the East Coast recruiting efforts covered with the ACC portion of the schedule. The Midwest covered with two B1G teams. The Texas area covered with two Big 12 teams, California covered with games against Stanford and USC, and the regular rivalry with Navy still in tact.
2. ND is prepping for a full move to the ACC, where they will have 8-9 conference games. This means they would have Stanford, USC, Navy, and possibly room for one marquee name game.

In either case. I wish Michigan would have been left on the schedule.

from an outsider perspective, the um/nd matchups seemed more "rivalry-er" than the series with purdue. purdue/nd just seems like another random game. so in that sense, it sucks just as a fan of the sport to lose another good rivalry after losing ut/a&m last year

Crimson streak;1280219 wrote:I know navy Stanford USC, and Purdue (instate rivalry) are more favored over the Michigan game.

I have never heard one ND fan say they prefer the Purdue series over Michigan. Yes, that includes the several ND fans that I know in Indiana.

GoChiefs;1280264 wrote:I have never heard one ND fan say they prefer the Purdue series over Michigan. Yes, that includes the several ND fans that I know in Indiana.

I'm not saying I do I'm just saying that's what there thinking is

sleeper;1280114 wrote:If anyone watched the game last weekend, how could you be upset about this?

I LOL'd. Then SMH at your second post. 24.33? Thanks for the exact calculation.

Anyways, no longer playing UM after these next 2 really sucks. I think it would be feasible to still fit them in but obviously the people calling the shots don't.

Another great rivalry gone. Fucking realignment.

Swarbrick said they would explore playing in the future. They've taken breaks in the past.

5 - ACC games
3 - USC/Navy/Stanford
4 - open spots

I would have preferred them to keep Michigan over Stanford. This sucks.

Swarbick is a Stanford alumnus (law school), and he wants to keep the brand national.

You have to realize that Notre Dame is a national brand like none other. It simply behooves Notre Dame to play a game in California every year versus playing Michigan.

This is where their recruits have come from during the Kelly era (2010-2014 kids who have sign or are currently committed):



(The purple hugh is the ACC footprint post-Pitt/Cuse additions. The Green hugh is the Notre Dame fanbase footprint (my amateur guess).)

That why Notre Dame will play in California, and has two "Shamrock Series" games in Texas (2009, 2013) (and you can bet your ass they'll be playing in Houston before the decade is over), and why they joined the ACC. They are bigger than the midwest, they want Chicago and Ohio...but they also want NYC/Boston/DC, and California, and a presence in Texas and Florida. This is all done for a reason and it's worked out really well for them so far.

For those interested, Ohio State's footprint (my amateur guess with both ND/OSU, I welcome input) and recruits 2010-Pres.

killer_ewok;1280306 wrote:I LOL'd. Then SMH at your second post. 24.33? Thanks for the exact calculation.

Anyways, no longer playing UM after these next 2 really sucks. I think it would be feasible to still fit them in but obviously the people calling the shots don't.

Another great rivalry gone. Fucking realignment.

It's actually 24.33 repeating but I rounded down to make ND look better. You're welcome.

Someone else said this on another site... something to the affect of Michigan is the highest rating/revenue game on the schedule for Notre Dame.

At the same time, it's also the toughest of the B1G games, so they favored dumping it rather than the other two "gimmies" Not my words; just something I read.

I thought it was kind of shady how the ND AD handled it.

I'm guessing you read that on a Michigan site. Lol at Michigan State (or Purdue for that matter, they are a B1G team) being a gimme. As for how it was handled, ND had to notify Michigan before the game or they contractually would have had to play another game in the series. It wasn't any more shady than the other times when Michigan backed out of the series.

I'd also like to see the numbers on the highest rated or most viewed rivalries. Michigan seems to think they are everyone's main rival, but they aren't.