Does Notre Dame’s Clemson Series Spell the End for a Historic Rivalry?

The college football world was rocked by Tuesday's announcement that Notre Dame and Clemson will square off for 12-straight seasons starting in 2027. The two have started to develop a rivalry in recent years as Clemson has been the ACC's crowned jewel the last decade-plus and Notre Dame has returned to being a national power.

Now the two get to play each other annually for the next dozen years, starting in 2027. As great as the announcement is for college football fans in general, is there a deeper reason its being done? Could a different Notre Dame rival soon be coming off the schedule?

Notre Dame and USC have formed one of college football's best rivalries for nearly the last 100-years. The programs used marquee games against each other decade after decade to grow into the national powers both have come. The future of that series that dates back to 1926 is anything but set in stone though, as those at USC have been anything but commital about its future.

USC athletic director Jennifer Cohen was asked about the future of the series in an interview with The Athletic last fall.

"With that being said, the landscape has changed dramatically. We're now playing in a conference where we fly back and forth across the country every week, and CFP expansion and how you get access to the CFP and how things are seeded and selected. Those, to me, are important, unanswered questions."

Lincoln Riley was asked about Notre Dame staying on the schedule at last year's Big Ten Media Days, USC's first as a conference member. He was also anything but convinced Notre Dame would always have a place on the Trojans schedule.

"There (have) been a lot of teams that sacrifice rivalry games...I'm not saying that's what's going to happen, but as we get into this playoff structure and if it changes or not, we get into this new conference, we're going to learn some about this as we go and what the right and best track is to winning a national championship."

Over time, when something special has ended on Notre Dame's schedule the work was already being done to have it replaced.

When Penn State walked away from the annual series to join the Big Ten after 1992, Notre Dame had games with Florida State (1993, 1994) and Texas (1995, 1996) sitting in the wings to replace them. When Notre Dame's deal with the ACC forced them to walk away from the annual Michigan game following the 2014 season, the likes of Clemson, Miami, and Florida State became regular Notre Dame opponents.

So why lock in a rivalry game for the next 12 seasons if you're Notre Dame? Maybe just maybe the folks at Notre Dame are getting ahead of things and finding a new national power to play every year when the current deal with USC ends in 2026.