College football fans who love to claim that Notre Dame doesn’t play anybody are about to be in shambles. Last week, a look at the most compelling non-conference series in the sport was released for the coming season and several years into the future.
Notre Dame fans are likely not remotely surprised to see the Irish all over this list. However, people who love to pretend that Marcus Freeman is still doing the thing that his predecessors did in the 1990s and early 2000s are likely in for a surprise.
Notre Dame football earns 4 spots on top 10 future non-con matchups
Of the 10 series that On3 decided to examine, the Notre Dame football team appears on the list four times. 40% of the most anticipated series in the sport seems like a lot, does it not? Does that not show the Irish are as relevant as ever? Does it not show they’re willing to play whoever, wherever, whenever? Keep in mind that this list was released right before they announced a long, every-year series against the Clemson Tigers.
No. 2 on this list when the Blue and Gold take on the Maize and Blue of the Michigan Wolverines in 2033 & 2034. Part of the draw of this home-and-home is that this used to be an annual series killed off by conference realignment and expansion.
No. 5 is an unusual matchup that Notre Dame fans might have even forgotten was in the offing. The Fighting Irish will take on the Florida Gators in 2031 & 2032.
No. 8 and No. 9 on the list are both the Fighting Irish taking on SEC powers. ND will take on Texas in 2028 & 2029 and then Alabama in 2029 & 2030. There is one year when the Golden Domers have two SEC squads on their schedule simultaneously.
The other six matchups in the near future are pretty interesting:
1) Alabama vs Ohio State (2027-2028)
3) Georgia vs Ohio State (2030-2031)
4) Oklahoma vs Clemson (2035-2036)
6) Nebraska vs Oklahoma (2029-2030)
7) Florida vs Colorado (2028-2029)
10) Auburn vs Miami (2029-2030)
This list definitely shows that the Notre Dame football team clearly understands the assignment. They aren’t skirting tough opponents, especially when one takes into account they’re playing Clemson every year here and have five ACC opponents on the schedule.