The Michigan Wolverines and Notre Dame Fighting Irish will play the final rivalry game between the two schools for the foreseeable future on Saturday and the matchup is live on TV starting up at 7:30 pm ET from NBC and streaming online and the matchup from Notre Dame Stadium has had both teams going back and forth as this longstanding rivalry ends.
Whether they admit it or not, Notre Dame made this decision and one reason is likely because the Wolverines have been beating down ND for the past eight years and clearly they are tired of it. They tried to claim it's because they are playing an ACC schedule now, but the team just scheduled a matchup with another Big Ten team in Ohio State after already doing it with Northwestern, so you be the judge.
Michigan comes into the season with high expectations and right now they are not ranked, but a win over a top 25 team in Notre Dame would be a nice way to get into the AP ranks. The team is coming off of a history cleansing win over Appalachian State and that was a blowout with a 52-14 score and that saw Devin Gardner throw for 173 yards. The team plays against Miami of Ohio after the Notre Dame matchup and this is the most anticipated game for the team in the first half of the season.
The two schools have played each other since back in the late 1800s and now the two schools will be putting that on hold. The teams had plans to play through 2031, and Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon said that he had no idea that Notre Dame would be cancelling things the way they did in 2012. Notre Dame has tried to act all high and mighty about this, but they are scared of Michigan for some reason and the "brand" of Notre Dame should take a hit for this.
The teams have gone through peaks and valleys and gaps in this rivalry, but what's happening now is playing out in an ESPN world and if Notre Dame doesn't win this game, it will solidify the fact that they just don't want to play Michigan anymore. The Wolverines won last year and embarrassed Notre Dame by playing the "Chicken Dance" after winning. Notre Dame has tried to use this game as a dig at Michigan, announcing a home and home with Ohio State, but that once again just shows their cowardice, as they would rather play another Big Ten team, after saying they wouldn't be playing as many Big Ten teams.
Michigan has a big game against Michigan State in the middle of the season, while Ohio State is the final game of the season and those two teams are currently ranked in the top 10.
Check here for the Michigan vs Notre Dame schedule for Saturday.