Yesterday’s announcement of a home-and-home with Arkansas and its accompanying note that 2020 will be the first time the Irish and Razorbacks meet got us thinking: Who has Notre Dame football never played in its illustrious, 130-year history? We dove into the annals (annals – get your mind out of the gutter, man) to look at Notre Dame’s records against current Power 5 teams and, as it turns out, the list was considerably smaller than we thought it would be. We also noticed that there are a number of significant programs that the Irish have faced very rarely and/or a very long time ago, so we’ll take a look at those too.
Teams On Jack’s To-Do List
Recent schedule announcements – Georgia in 2017 and 2019, Michigan in 2018 and 2019, Ohio State in 2018 and 2022, Arkansas in 2020 and 2025, Texas A&M in 2024 and 2025 – make it quite clear that athletic director Jack Swarbrick is aggressively pursuing marquee opponents to complement the usual slate that includes USC, Stanford, and one of the top-tier ACC teams. Not all of the teams that are absent from Notre Dame’s record books have the same cache as those opponents, but nonetheless, if Jack will take suggestions for new opponents, he could do worse than to start with that list as he continues the search. Note that, somewhat surprisingly, we have played every current member of the ACC, Big Ten, and Pac 12 at least once, so our list is limited to just the Big 12 and the SEC.
Big 12
- Iowa State
- Kansas State
- Oklahoma State
- Texas Tech
I could kind of take or leave Iowa State and Texas Tech, but to complete the list I wouldn’t mind facing them. I’d love to get Kansas State or Okie Light on the schedule at some point, though. Plus, we can schedule Kansas State for whenever we want and be secure in the knowledge that Bill Snyder will still be there.
SEC
- Arkansas
- Auburn
- Kentucky
- Mississippi State
Arkansas will be taken care of soon enough, of course. Kentucky and Mississippi State are just as interesting as Kansas State and Oklahoma State – I definitely wouldn’t mind seeing them. And Auburn? Please please please please please please please please please… Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs mentioned Notre Dame back in 2014 when discussing out-of-conference teams he’d like to schedule. I’m sure Under Armour would really like to see this game scheduled as well. Jack, make this happen. MAKE IT HAPPEN!
The “Hey, Remember Us?” Category
As noted above, while we’ve played every other Power 5 team, we haven’t darkened the doorstep of some of them in quite some time.
- 1938: Franklin Roosevelt is elected for the first time. Adolf Hitler is named TIME Magazine’s Man of the Year (not a joke). Superman first appears in DC Comics. Notre Dame plays the last of its five games against Minnesota.
- 1964: Lyndon Johnson is elected president. The first US Beatles album is released. “Dr. Strangelove” premiers. Notre Dame plays the last of its 16 games against Wisconsin.
- 1967: PBS is founded. Jimi Hendrix records “Purple Haze.” Muhammad Ali is stripped of his title for refusing to enter the Army. Notre Dame plays the last of its four games against California.
- 1968: Richard Nixon is elected president (I think I’m sensing a theme here, folks). Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated. Evel Knievel crashes attempting to jump the Caesar’s Palace fountain. Jacques Cousteau’s first US special airs. Notre Dame plays the last of its 12 games against Illinois and the last of its 24 (!) games against Iowa.
- 1972: Richard Nixon is re-elected. Oops… Irish DE Walt Patulski is selected #1 overall by the Buffalo Bills. The FBI adds its first two female agents. Fischer defeats Spassky. Notre Dame meets TCU for the first and only time.
- 1980-1985: This six-year stretch saw Notre Dame’s last match-ups with Georgia (1980), Arizona (1982), Oregon (1982), Missouri (1984), South Carolina (1984), and Ole Miss (1985).
- 1991-1999: The glorious decade of the 90’s held Notre Dame’s last meetings with Indiana (1991), Florida (1992), Colorado (1994), Vanderbilt (1996), Baylor (1998), and Kansas (1999).
- 2001-2010: The first decade of the third millennium contained Notre Dame’s last games with Nebraska (2001), Texas A&M (2001), West Virginia (2001), Oregon State (2004), Tennessee (2005), Penn State (2007), UCLA (2007), Washington (2009), Washington State (2009), and Utah (2010).
The “Extended Hiatus” Category
Notre Dame has met a handful of schools for a couple of games that are spaced very widely apart. The winner (?) is Rutgers, who faced the Irish at the Polo Grounds in 1921 and waited until Lou Holtz’s final season, 1996, to face them again. Baylor was a very close second, facing Notre Dame just twice – once in 1925, and once in 1998. Kansas visited South Bend in 1938 and next played Notre Dame in 1999. Ohio State dropped the “Game of the Century” in 1936 and waited until John Cooper’s 1995 squad to play the Irish again. UCLA faced Ara Parseghian in 1964 and didn’t see the Irish again until Charlie Weis’s 2006 squad. Syracuse had a 40-year gap, from the program’s zenith in 1963 to the disastrous Ty Willingham performance in 2003. Notre Dame met Arizona for the first time in 1941, and forewent their company again until 1980.
The “We Hardly Knew Thee” Category
While Notre Dame has faced nearly every current Power 5 team, several of those opponents barely have a presence in the history books. After Auburn and Kansas State, I’d probably look here to pick out some marquee names:
- 1 game: Florida, Georgia, Louisville, TCU, Utah, Virginia Tech
- 2 games: Baylor, Maryland, North Carolina State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Oregon State, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Washington State
- 3 games: Arizona, Clemson, Wake Forest
- 4 games: Arizona State, Cal, Missouri, South Carolina, UCLA, West Virginia
- 5 games: Colorado, Duke, Minnesota, Rutgers, Texas A&M
From that list, I’d prioritize Florida, Ole Miss, Oregon, TCU, UCLA, and Colorado, in that order. The ACC teams will take care of themselves, of course, and Texas A&M is already on future schedules.
What say you, commentariat? Who do you most want to see enter the schedule?
With the caveat that now we’re going to get plenty of ACC teams and the UGA series is already locked and loaded: A home-and-home with Oregon is, to my mind, the must-do, followed by Auburn, Florida, and Colorado.
Yeah, we’ve only faced Clemson three times but I didn’t bother to make a point of them for the reason you note. I definitely have Auburn and Florida at the top of my list because ESS EEE SEE, but I wouldn’t argue with putting Oregon in there first either. That would be an awesome series.
I think the contrast in styles with Oregon would be cool. Maybe would have been neater pre-Crossroads/pre-Crazy Train era.
I don’t know who I want to play most, but I do know that I’d love not seeing Michigan on the schedule ever again.
Heh. Yeah, it wouldn’t break me up too much either. Why? Because [redacted] them, that’s why.
I don’t really have many complaints or wish-lists for ND specifically, I generally like the decisions they make and there’s enough variety to see schools and games come and go. My more pressing hope would be for college football in general. Want to see more PITT/PSU, Texas/A&M, KAN/MIZZ, PITT/WVU, OK/NEB, etc all those types of rivalry games that switches in conferences have killed off and teams are either too scared or too busy eating cupcakes to schedule meaningful (and potentially costly!) games against their rivals.
To that extent, though probably unpopular among fellow ND fans, I am at least glad that Notre Dame- Michigan aren’t completely finished with each other, though the anti-change and nostalgia part of me does get saddened when they don’t regularly play, and it seems in the next 15-20 years they aren’t going to meet that often. Regardless, that’s eased when I recall 37-0 and #RememberTheSix
I’d actually enjoy a matchup with Texas Tech. If we lose, it’s at least going to be fun. If we win, there’s a chance we do it by scoring 65 points.
It’ll make the 1st half of this game look like a defensive struggle!
http://www.espn.com/college-football/game?gameId=400868950
My list: TCU, Texas Tech(I grew up near there and have tons of alumn family), Colorado, Baylor, Wisconsin
Non-Power 5 Games
Based solely on an away game in the opponents stadium:
East Carolina – If you’re going to pick a game based on a midfield logo this is the one.
Tulane – Great academics, new stadium, superb location.
Army – Can’t we play here once in my lifetime?
Boise State – Pretty obvious choice.
UNLV – Vegas.
Appalachian State – Real pretty part of the country.
North Dakota State – Fargo Dome.
If you dip into the non-Power 5 part of the history books, incidentally, there’s plenty of interesting stuff. We played South Bend High School in the nineteenth century, a smattering of medical colleges, plenty of teams that in modern times are FCS, Division II/III, and even NAIA.
Looking at current Group of 5 teams, I would definitely take Tulane (the Big Easy? Yes, please), Army at Michie Stadium (ticket sales be damned), Boise (duh, like you say), Houston, and Memphis. I like the rest of yours too. Lots of good options among G5 teams.
Tulane has a nice connection to Michigan, too.
Kids from Scarsdale, NY who are unlucky enough to get rejected by BOTH Cornell and Michigan often end up at Tulane.
Not to rub it in, but I was at that last game in West Point. ND absolutely pounded them. I was a wee nipper so I can’t remember many details except that the one time Army threatened to score a td, the poor guy fumbled and ND ran it back for another touchdown. I am not sure that is literally true, but that’s my memory, anyway.
This is all I’m gonna say about NDSU.
https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2014/8/30/6086977/north-dakota-state-fcs-fbs-STOP-PLAYING-THEM
It would be fun to see the back and forth between the audacity to schedule a FCS team and the possibility of losing anyway.
If we do ever schedule an FCS, I think we need to do a last minute deal where we see who the winner of the FCS championship is and schedule a game with em the next year. Do this every season. Your reward for winning the FCS is to get a second game on national TV and a big payday to come play at ND.
And forever damaging to ND, regardless of outcome. Win, and they “did what they should have” and tarnished their record of never playing an FCS foe. Lose and they lost to an FCS team and “ND is irrelevant.”
Let’s do it!