By Brian Hamilton
Notre Dame, officially, will mess with Texas.
The Irish and Longhorns announced today a four-game series beginning in 2015, putting two of college football's winningest programs on the same field for the first time since the mid-1990s.
The Tribune reported Tuesday that the programs were "very close" to an agreement, and Texas released the details of the series this afternoon. The Longhorns first travel to South Bend, Ind., on Sept. 5, 2015.
Notre Dame then visits Austin on Sept. 3, 2016, then again on Aug. 31, 2019. The Longhorns return to South Bend on Sept. 12, 2020. And in the release, Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick left open "the prospect of additional contests, potentially in other sports as well as football."
Notre Dame, officially, will mess with Texas.
The Irish and Longhorns announced today a four-game series beginning in 2015, putting two of college football's winningest programs on the same field for the first time since the mid-1990s.
The Tribune reported Tuesday that the programs were "very close" to an agreement, and Texas released the details of the series this afternoon. The Longhorns first travel to South Bend, Ind., on Sept. 5, 2015.
Notre Dame then visits Austin on Sept. 3, 2016, then again on Aug. 31, 2019. The Longhorns return to South Bend on Sept. 12, 2020. And in the release, Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick left open "the prospect of additional contests, potentially in other sports as well as football."
"Starting a series with the Texas Longhorns is great not just for Notre
Dame, but college football, and we couldn't be happier about it," Notre
Dame coach Brian Kelly said in the release announcing the series. "When I
look at the job coach (Mack) Brown has done at Texas in reviving a once
proud tradition, I see many parallels to what our staff plans to do at
Notre Dame.
"The addition of Texas to our future schedules is just another example of the type of high-profile programs we plan on playing as an independent. We look forward to embracing our unique status within college football and continuing to schedule games against similar programs down the road."
Notre Dame and Texas have met 10 times, with the Irish winning eight of the games, including the last meeting in 1996. Notre Dame has won two of the three Cotton Bowl meetings between the programs, the last of which was 1977.
Texas ranks second on the NCAA all-time victory list (845) and Notre Dame is third (837).
"We're thrilled to be able to renew the football relationship between Notre Dame and Texas," Swarbrick said in the release.
"History already suggests that this has been an intersectional rivalry loaded with memorable moments, and I expect fans of both institutions will eagerly look forward to these matchups on the respective campuses. We've been looking at the prospect of putting together these matchups for some time, and we hope these games may lead to further conversations about the prospect of additional contests, potentially in other sports as well as football."
"The addition of Texas to our future schedules is just another example of the type of high-profile programs we plan on playing as an independent. We look forward to embracing our unique status within college football and continuing to schedule games against similar programs down the road."
Notre Dame and Texas have met 10 times, with the Irish winning eight of the games, including the last meeting in 1996. Notre Dame has won two of the three Cotton Bowl meetings between the programs, the last of which was 1977.
Texas ranks second on the NCAA all-time victory list (845) and Notre Dame is third (837).
"We're thrilled to be able to renew the football relationship between Notre Dame and Texas," Swarbrick said in the release.
"History already suggests that this has been an intersectional rivalry loaded with memorable moments, and I expect fans of both institutions will eagerly look forward to these matchups on the respective campuses. We've been looking at the prospect of putting together these matchups for some time, and we hope these games may lead to further conversations about the prospect of additional contests, potentially in other sports as well as football."
Don't be a hater, Captain Obvious. If Notre Dame scheduled Texas for money, then Texas scheduled ND for money. The fact is these two schools want to remain unique and they collaborated to keep their special statuses over the summer. Now they are thanking each other for the support while giving us a series of great games to look forward to. These games will be great events. Go Irish!
@Hook Em Horns, Notre Dame and Texas have met 10 times, with the Irish winning eight of the games. Notre Dame has won two of the three Cotton Bowl meetings between the programs,
Another chance for the Irish to embarass themselves on national TV.
Next time I'll use Colonel Obvious. GO CATS!
Heckuva dealmaker, that Swarbrick!! What an absolutely terrific job he is doing in order to undo the damage done by his predecessor at AD, Kevin White. Notre Dame and Texas are two legendary programs and are real kingmakers in the new college landscape defined by expansion and entertainment dollars.
Following up on the announcement of the series with Miami, this is a testament to the belief that Notre Dame is now - and always will be - independent. I can hear it now, Catholics vs Cattlemen. Ha Ha.
Actually, the shirt is already out ===>>
http://www.zazzle.com/skateo*
Way to go, Jack. Go IRISH!
CapatinObvious sounds a lot like Rick Telander?
Apparently you are not in tune with the goings on at ND.
Let me catch you up to speed. The former AD, Kevin White, made a TERRIBLE decision and wanted to do a 7-4-1 schedule format. This KILLED ND's scheduling chances with programs like Texas, Miami, etc.
When Swarbrick came into the AD position, he was handcuffed with this scheduling format and a schedule with a couple of openings right away. Schedules are made years in advance for the most part, so many of the upper tier programs were booked already. Thus settling on who they scheduled for the coming season.
If you look at the decisions made by Swarbrick, he has added Oklahoma (2 games), Miami (3 games), and now Texas (4 games) to future schedules. He is also looking more at a 6-5-1 or 7-5 schedule which will allow more high profile programs on there. He is showing he is indeed interested in scheduling tougher teams.
Hope that helps. If you want to get on Kevin White for trying to dumb down the schedule, please do. But Swarbrick is not doing that in the least.
"High-profile" football programs like... Tulsa? Army? UConn? Nevada? Join a conference, then we'll believe you're sincere, Swindlebrick. Or, come right out and admit "We scheduled Texas to ensure even bigger paydays than those we enjoy now."