Notre Dame and Michigan State Meet for the 80th Time Amid Scheduling Turmoil in College Football

Notre Dame and Michigan State renew one of college football’s older rivalries this Saturday, and the occasion has renewed debate about why the matchup is no longer an annual fixture. The 80th all-time meeting arrives in an era when long-running series across the sport have been displaced by conference realignment and the economics of televised football.

The Fighting Irish hold a 49-21-1 edge in the all-time series, but recent history has been remarkably balanced: the two programs are tied 10-10 over the last 20 meetings. Only three opponents have faced Notre Dame more often than the Spartans.

The series faded from annual status after Notre Dame’s 2014 affiliation with the ACC reshaped its scheduling priorities. Longstanding matchups against Michigan State and Purdue, along with the near-annual Michigan game played since 1978, were reduced to occasional non-conference dates. The shift reflects broader forces reshaping the sport, including the expansion of the postseason and the escalating value of broadcast rights.

Television money has been a central driver of these changes. Notre Dame’s own landmark deal with NBC, signed in the early 1990s, was initially viewed by many as a cash grab but ultimately helped secure the program’s independent status. NBC’s parent company, Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA), continues to operate in a media landscape where live sports rights remain a key asset; shares of the telecom and media conglomerate closed recently at $24.42, down 1.77% on the day, valuing the company at roughly $92.5 billion. Rival conferences, meanwhile, pursued their own media-driven realignment, often at the cost of traditional rivalries.

Michigan State’s new head coach, Pat Fitzgerald, said this week he would like the series restored to an annual basis. “Obviously this is a storied rivalry and one that in the future I wish we could do yearly,” he said, adding that scheduling “is a pain in the neck for everybody” but that the game is “one of the great storied traditions and rivalries in college football.”

The two schools also share a historical bond beyond the field. While Notre Dame’s Navy series is often framed as gratitude for wartime support, Michigan State continued scheduling the Irish during a period when Michigan reportedly encouraged other Big Ten programs to drop them.

What to watch

• Saturday’s result, the 80th meeting in the series, and whether both athletic departments signal interest in a future scheduling arrangement.
• Any movement on Notre Dame’s post-2026 scheduling commitments under its ACC affiliation.
• Ongoing college football realignment and media-rights developments that could affect non-conference scheduling, including Comcast’s and other broadcasters’ future rights deals.

Source: original release