Notre Dame Football: Could Irish add an SEC team in 2020?

Right now, schedule talk is at the forefront of discussions around Notre Dame football. Could an SEC opponent make its way on to Notre Dame’s schedule?

First, there were rumors about Notre Dame facing off with Alabama in a Chick-fil-a Kickoff Classic game. Those rumors were quickly  put to bed, and if you ask me, the Irish and the Crimson Tide missed an opportunity by not getting together on the gridiron this year when the opportunity presented itself.

Nevertheless, the Irish still may have an opportunity to add a marquee SEC opponent to the schedule in a makeshift 2020 season. If there’s any time to do it, the time is now.

Former Notre Dame quarterback and Fox football analyst, Brady Quinn, went on a radio station in Atlanta and teased that the Irish may be on the verge of scheduling an SEC opponent — one that would rekindle a historic rivalry.

Here’s why this rumor may have some legs: Notre Dame is likely to be adopted by the ACC this year. Historically, the ACC and the SEC have quite a few crossovers, especially considering that there are four in-state rivalries among schools from each conference: Florida-Florida State, South Carolina-Clemson, Georgia-Georgia Tech, and Kentucky-Louisville. In short, the conferences have had plenty of overlap, and while it appears that power-five conferences not named the Big Ten or Pac-12 work to keep their non-conference games, it would make sense for Notre Dame to add an SEC school to the schedule.

Who the school is remains to be seen and isn’t particularly clear. We know it won’t be Alabama. We also know that Arkansas is already on the schedule for Week 2.

One thought is that Notre Dame could rekindle its recent (and historic) rivalry with LSU. The Irish and the Tigers have met 12 times on the gridiron, with Notre Dame winning 7 times and the Tigers winning 5. Recently, the Irish have seen the Tigers in the Music City and Citrus Bowls, but the two schools met a few times throughout the early 80’s and mid-90’s.

Whatever the case may be, let’s hope that Notre Dame is playing at least some sort of meaningful football this fall.