Auburn, Notre Dame Schedule Their First-Ever Football Matchups

The two storied programs will meet for the first time.
Notre Dame will square off with an SEC foe for the first time in 2027.
Notre Dame will square off with an SEC foe for the first time in 2027. / Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

In its long history as a major college football program, Notre Dame has played every SEC team except for three.

In 2027, the Fighting Irish will cross the biggest of those three names off their list. Notre Dame will host Auburn that year before traveling south to play the Tigers in 2028, according to a Wednesday afternoon report from Pete Thamel of ESPN.

This will be the first gridiron meeting between Auburn and the Fighting Irish; the two squads have met once before in both men's and women's basketball. In addition to the Tigers, Notre Dame has yet to play Kentucky and Mississippi State in football.

FREE. SI College Football Newsletter. Get SI's College Football Newsletter. dark

Auburn has been noted in the past for rarely venturing north. The Tigers' 2021 voyage to Penn State marked their first road game against a Big Ten team since tying Wisconsin 7–7 in 1931.

This year, the Fighting Irish and Auburn have seen their football fortunes travel in opposite directions; Notre Dame is 6–2 and ranked in the top 10 while the Tigers are 4–5 and looking for a new coach.


More College Football on Sports Illustrated

Listen to SI’s new college sports podcast, Others Receiving Votes, below or on Apple and Spotify. Watch the show on SI’s YouTube channel.

feed


Published
Patrick Andres
PATRICK ANDRES

Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .