Notre Dame vs BYU Is A Game That Should Continue Long Term
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Notre Dame saw its nearly 100-year rivalry with USC come to an end last week, at least for the time being, as the two teams could not agree to terms on a new contract. USC's unwillingness to stick the over 60-year tradition of scheduling, or revert back to the games always being in November or December – like they were the first four decades of the rivalry – ended with the Trojans backing out of the series altogether.
About a minute after it was announced that game was over, the Irish announced a two-year home-and-home agreement with BYU. This matchup almost took place a few days ago in the Pop Tarts Bowl, but the Irish decided to not play in the game after being snubbed by the playoff committee, so the Cougars will play Georgia Tech instead. BYU earned a 25-21 come-from-behind victory that ended their season with an impressive 12-2 record. BYU has now gone 23-4 over the last two seasons, and all but one of those losses was to a ranked opponent.
That means Notre Dame replaced USC with a better team that will likely improve the team's strength of schedule in 2026. Notre Dame will have one playoff team on its schedule in Miami, and now adds another team in BYU that was a Big 12 title game victory over Texas Tech from earning a playoff berth of their own.
The Irish will head to Provo for a game at some point during the 2026 season and the Cougars will make a return trip to South Bend at some point in 2027. Notre Dame should have made a trip to BYU much sooner, but that's a different story for a different day.
These are two teams that have some familiarity with each other. Notre Dame holds a 7-2 all-time advantage against the Cougars, with BYU beating the Irish inside Notre Dame Stadium in 1994 and winning in Provo early in 2004. Notre Dame has won four straight in the matchup, with the most recent game being a 28-20 win over BYU in a game played in Las Vegas back in 2022. Two of the last three wins by the Irish were close, single digit games, including a 17-14 win back in 2012.
Notre Dame won the only other game played in Provo, whipping the Cougars 45-20 in the first year of the Charlie Weis tenure in South Bend.
This is a series I would like to see a lot more of, especially with USC opting out of the matchup until at least 2030. Notre Dame also doesn't have the annual matchups against Big Ten teams they used to have. We'll see Michigan State and Purdue on the schedule in upcoming seasons, and Purdue was on the schedule three times in the last five seasons, but they aren't the annual games we saw in the past.
BYU and Notre Dame don't have a ton of history, but it's a very intriguing matchup that I think could form into a real rivalry. This is a game I would like to see extended beyond 2027. I'm not sure if the Cougars and Irish could make it happen, but if they would work out something similar to the 12-year deal Notre Dame has with Clemson it could benefit both teams and help lead to a new rivalry for both teams.
Think about it. A Catholic institution vs. a Mormon institution. Both have extremely recognizable uniforms. One is a traditional blue blood (Notre Dame) and the other (BYU) is a program that has been fighting for decades to be taken more seriously. Despite winning a national title (1984) and producing a Heisman Trophy winner (Ty Detmer), BYU has not been considered a big time program. Notre Dame fans are also still a bit bitter – rightly so – about Detmer winning the Heisman over Notre Dame star Raghib Ismail in 1990.
Joining the Big 12 prior to the 2023 season has helped with that, but establishing a rivalry against a program like Notre Dame could provide the Cougars with even more legitimacy and status.
Look at the playoff rankings this year, when the Cougars were dropped down in the final rankings despite earning six quality wins, beating multiple Top 25 teams and only losing to No. 4 seed Texas Tech. This isn't the first time a really good BYU team wasn't ranked as high by the playoff committee as it should (2024).
For Notre Dame, it gives them a consistent opponent that is trending in a great direction. Let's be honest, BYU would have given Notre Dame's strength of schedule a big boost the last two seasons if it replaced USC on the schedule. BYU has gone 57-20 the last six seasons and has won 10 or more games in four of those seasons. USC went 44-26 during the same stretch and had just one 10-plus win season.
With Kalani Sitake spurning Penn State to remain at BYU and the Cougars getting a financial boost from joining the Big 12, the Cougars appear to be poised to remain a top program.
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