Notre Dame Resumption Official Comment Count

Brian

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[Eric Upchurch]

Per MGoBlue:

The Michigan-Notre Dame football series will resume on Sept. 1, 2018, when the Irish host the Wolverines in the season opener before a Oct. 26, 2019, date at Michigan Stadium.

As the previous post notes I'm surprised that it's at ND in 2018, from the perspective of both teams. I'd rather have ND on the schedule than Arkansas no matter which team gets a home date. Meanwhile having the ND game 2019 in the meat of the conference schedule is odd. Michigan has Penn State before that game and Maryland after.

Comments

FreddieMercuryHayes

July 7th, 2016 at 12:33 PM ^

I would. They're not terrible, have had some good seasons in recent memory without being elite. They certainly aren't Vandy or UK. Joined the SEC early 90's. I would say it's akin to playing PSU in the non-con. Cache in reputation with a much higher chance of actually winning than playing a dangerous or better coached team.




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WolvinLA2

July 7th, 2016 at 12:38 PM ^

That's an honest take, but one with which I disagree. I don't think Arkansas is anywhere near PSU, but even PSU isn't elite. I'd rather play good teams. If your goal really is to win it all, then you shouldn't be afraid to play good teams. If your goal isn't to win it all, then you should welcome the most exciting regular season schedule. Which do you think recruits will get more excited about - an official visit for ND or an official visit for Arkansas? Which environment will be crazier and which will be more hyped nationally?

Now, if your goal is to simply make it to the playoff but not actually deserve it, then sure. Let's schedule a bunch of games we know we can win.

FreddieMercuryHayes

July 7th, 2016 at 12:47 PM ^

Yep, my goal is for UM to make the playoffs. That's all anyone cares about. No one outside of UM and OSU cares that MSU got the weirdest and luckiest brakes to make the playoffs. Play 1-2 quality teams a year that can give you a feather in your cap, and make the rest of the games winnable. Then turn the season into a 2 game season where you can get hot for a short while and hoist a NC (see OSU 2014). If you want to accomplish running a marathon, you don't have to do the Pike's Peak marathon. You can go down to San Antonio where it's a net downhill. No one asks where you got that '26.2' sticker. All that matters is you completed the marathon to get it.




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matty blue

July 7th, 2016 at 1:54 PM ^

why inject actual thinking into the arkansas part of the conversation?  it's $2M, and god knows the department is short on cash.  

what's worth more, $2M, and the possibility of maybe national exposure, if we're both good, or a game with notre dame that is absolutely guaranteed to garner national exposure and interest?

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in all seriousness, it's not really an exaggeration to say that michigan vs notre dame is what college football is all about.  michigan vs arkansas is not.  if you told me i could get michigan vs arkansas tickets, or pay and extra $20 (after all, 100,000 fans X $20 = $2M) and get michigan vs notre dame?  where do i pay?

doggdetroit

July 7th, 2016 at 12:35 PM ^

ND hasn't been good since 1993. Since then, their two best teams were exposed as frauds in bowl games against legit teams (2012 against Alabama and 2015 against Ohio State). Arkansas isn't great but I'd say beating an SEC team carries more weight than beating a perpetually overhyped ND.

The Priapist

July 7th, 2016 at 3:32 PM ^

I don't see how this argument can be made when all EVERYONE in college football wants to do is play Notre Dame or have them in their conference.

Stop thinking like a fan (especially a Michigan fan) for just a minute and all this will make sense to you.

Notre Dame is college football. End of story, end of debate. 

Michigan fans want to jump up and down screaming every time Notre Dame farts, while college football understands the importance of Notre Dame.

And, for all the whining and crying, I thought Jim Harbaugh was supposed to be this brilliant college football coach and Michigan would be crushing all skulls by then, winning all the games and being, generally, the best football team ever assembled, so playing anybody, anywhere ain't no thang.

poppinfresh

July 7th, 2016 at 1:49 PM ^

bielema taking his shots... 

http://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/arkansas-football/bret-bielema-talks-a…

i wanted arkansas... even if they arent elite SEC they are a direct baraometer to common opponents for Michigan and an opportunity for Harbaugh to troll SEC on the field while also showing southern recruits that they'd get to play against teams close to home.

I care about ND but only to an extent (not messing with our recruiting, perception or scheduling), I would love to take on the SEC every single year and wish football had a Big Ten - SEC challenge ala basketball with the ACC. 

Maizen

July 7th, 2016 at 12:17 PM ^

Amatuer hour from Warde Manuel. No way ND should be getting back to back home games. On top of that, it's the same year Michigan plays AT OSU and AT MSU. 

What a complete joke.

victoriaed90

July 7th, 2016 at 12:18 PM ^

This is garbage. I was so happy to hear rumors of ND/UM getting back on track but this is straight garbage. Who negotiatied this mess? ND, MSU, and OSU as away games is the worst possible schedule. Honestly, they'd have been better off starting in 2019 or 2020 with a matching open date. 

Wolvie3758

July 7th, 2016 at 12:22 PM ^

bad Warde Manuel move...strike 2...WHY are we playing at ND 2 times in a row?  This Stinks if you ask me..Id rather play Arkansas...I enjoyed having them Off the schedule and after the way they ended the series why on earth would we give them the first game at home?  Geesh

Trader Jack

July 7th, 2016 at 12:28 PM ^

No, he'll schedule a cupcake directional school or something. The schedule is tough enough as it is playing all of our rivals on the road, he's not going to make it even tougher to get to the playoff by scheduling another exciting power 5 team too.




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MH20

July 7th, 2016 at 12:18 PM ^

Shades of the 2014 home schedule...

Sept. 1 Notre Dame at Notre Dame
Sept. 8 spacer Open
Sept. 15 SMU SMU
Sept. 22 Nebraska NEBRASKA*
Sept. 29 Northwestern at Northwestern*
Oct. 6 Maryland MARYLAND*
Oct. 13 Wisconsin WISCONSIN*
Oct. 20 Michigan State at Michigan State*
Oct. 27 spacer Open
Nov. 3 Penn State PENN STATE*
Nov. 10 Rutgers at Rutgers*
Nov. 17 Indiana INDIANA*
Nov. 24 Ohio State at Ohio State*

 

mlax27

July 7th, 2016 at 12:31 PM ^

Given that schedule, I suspect I will let my season tickets lapse, and go every other year.  If I had to guess, Manuel would only have done this if he knew he was going to be able to flip the MSU series somehow, but just isn't able to announce it yet.  Notre Dame only has 10 games on the schedule yet for 2018.  MSU only has 2 non-conference opponents, and both teams have an opening on Sept 15th, 2018. 

 

Maybe we get lucky, and somehow convinced MSU to flip home games with us, and in exchange they get ND at home in 2018 rather than Michigan.  I would be Ok with that since it restores order in the long run.

northmuskeGOnBLUE

July 7th, 2016 at 12:53 PM ^

I think there are more announcements coming. I simply can't believe that Warde and his staff doesn't see the same schedules that we do. This makes little sense without flipping the MSU series back to being opposite of OSU. Perhaps this was the impetus to make that happen. 

I hope that is the case. If not, we really got screwed. Hard to see the upside here. 

DamnYankee

July 7th, 2016 at 1:43 PM ^

in any of this?  My initial thought was Harbaugh approved this and this is him giving Bert the middle finger for his almost mocking reaction to the satellite camps earlier this year.  Let's face it, Arkansas benefits more than us in playing each other since we are the higher profile program. UM-ND moves the needle way more than UM-AR.  I also agree with you that there are still may be more changes TBA.

Real Tackles Wear 77

July 7th, 2016 at 1:18 PM ^

I would be shocked if you can get season tickets on a year-to-year basis at this point. The waiting list went away because Brandon, but I'm sure it's back to multiple years before you can get season tickets. From a revenue maximization standpoint, I understand how the current year-on/year-off scheduling makes it impossible for most people to get rid of their tickets as long as Harbaugh is coach.

Goggles Paisano

July 7th, 2016 at 4:33 PM ^

How do you go about flipping the MSU game?  Is the only way to play there in 2017 which would make it two in a row on the road again?  To flip this it would have to be a pretty sweet deal for MSU to agree to it.  

Harlans Haze

July 8th, 2016 at 12:05 AM ^

What has changed between now and when ND cancelled? Nothing on ND side that I'm aware of. Same coach, same ad, same acc affiliation. All the changes are on UM side. New coach and ad. That leads me to one incontrovertible conclusion; that Harbaaugh wholeheartedly endorses this and Manuel has no reservations about extending the matchup beyond 2019. And it leads to one HUGE speculation; was Brandon somehow involved in ND pulling out in the first place? The decision, then seemed to come out of nowhere. And, for ND to come back to the table unprompted, and, for UM to agree to an away game, makes me think UM was in a weak position. I'm not aware of anything that would have put them in such a position, and I'm not inclined Manuel was so incompetent that he agreed to the deal without being hamstrung. Brandon was so incompetent at nearly everything else, it's not out of the realm that he screwed this up, too. And even if he didn't, how does it hurt, adding it to the list?

VAWolverine

July 7th, 2016 at 12:20 PM ^

to resume this series with ND. They "owed" Michigan a home game since the series resumed in 1978 at ND and was last played in 2014 at ND. I do not like playing such a huge game for an opener on the road. Then there is the issue of playing them in October in 2019.

ND has effectively used the B10 to schedule many of its teams for decades and now has a one-sided relationship with the ACC. The Irish need to boil their corn beef or take it off the stove; it's time for them to actually join a conference rather than using two conferences to meet their objectives.

I would have rather spanked Razorback bad boy Bret's rear end home and away and kept 2 million dollars.

ehatch

July 7th, 2016 at 12:20 PM ^

Can we sign up for Season tickets in only the odd years?  I was completely fine playing good teams not named Notre Dame.  I am indifferent to playing ND again, but I am not okay with paying $2M to lose a home game and getting screwed over with scheduling. 

jmblue

July 7th, 2016 at 12:25 PM ^

I'm glad they will be back on the schedule, but this doesn't make a lot of sense for us.  

Is it going to be like this going forward - playing openers at ND and midseason games in Ann Arbor, or is that just for 2018/2019?

Still, the biggest issue remains MSU/OSU being on the same rotation.  We absolutely have to complain to the league office about that.  They're punishing our fanbase in even-numbered years.

cutter

July 7th, 2016 at 12:59 PM ^

The reason why Brian is so "calm" is that any criticism of this schedule also reflects on Harbaugh and that's something he doesn't want to do.  Let's face it--Harbaugh has indicated for months now that he wanted this game and we all know that his contract stipulates that he will be fully consulted on the non-conference schudule.

We also know that it's going to be really hard for Brian to blame his whipping boy Brandon for this one.  He might make some hay about how Michigan State and Ohio State are both on the same home/road schedule rotation without point fingers at the Big Ten Conference (vice Brandon).  But we all know that a large part of the decision to change the previous schedule and play Notre Dame lies with Jim Harbaugh.

So come on, Brian, and instead blaming the CEO of Toys R Us headquarters in New York, make sure you criticize the occupant of the head football coach's office at Schembechler Hall in Ann Arbor.  It might take a bit off Harbaugh's sheen, but it'd also be honest on your part to do so.

WolvinLA2

July 7th, 2016 at 12:23 PM ^

I agree that this isn't ideal, but holy shit this blog will bitch like crazy given any opportunity.

Getting ND back is a good thing. Sure, having them matched up with MSU and OSU in terms of home/away sucks, but come on. Think how great it will be the years we get them all at home!

ijohnb

July 7th, 2016 at 12:34 PM ^

was just too much of a reach.  Getting back ND was particularly appealing as a rivalry game to balance out the MSU/OSU years where both of those games are on the road.  Additionally, Michigan is operating differently at that point in a conference season with the division on the line.  Notre Dame plays one offs all year basically and it will be just another Saturday but for Michigan that is a big distraction from the conference season.  We had an SEC team lined up that worked out for scheduling.  Now we lose that home and home, pay $2 million dollars, and have to resume the series on the road and host them in the middle of a conference schedule.  That is not a good deal, man.  Not at all.