Notre Dame's Future Scheduling Takes Center Stage

Despite Notre Dame not being a part of the CFP this year, the Irish remain at the center of news and controversy. The latest drama surrounding the Irish has to do with future scheduling, as news has broken that the Irish have set up a series with BYU in 2026-2027.

As if this wasn't enough news on its own, given that the Irish declined to play BYU in a bowl game this year, another major bombshell broke. Notre Dame and USC have paused their yearly series and hope to renegotiate the game around 2030. Let's examine what this news mean for Notre Dame moving forward.

Notre Dame will be blamed for the USC series pause

Unless you have had your head in the sand for the last few weeks, you have noticed that the most en vogue thing to do in the world of college football is to trash Notre Dame.

For anything, and for everything. I don't recall any rumors of the Irish vs Trojan series potentially ending until USC decided to join the BIG. During this time, leaks from the USC end involved whispers of the Trojans being open to not playing Notre Dame yearly. Why risk a loss to an out-of-conference opponent?

Fast forward a few years, and here we are. Notre Dame and USC will not appear on each other's schedules moving forward. Nothing has changed from the Irish's end. USC decided to join a tougher conference and wanted to water down its schedule.

Despite this fact, much of the chatter surrounding this issue points to Notre Dame as the culprit here. These arguments are disingenuous, yet predictable. This move is a brutal hit to college football and one of its longest-standing traditions, Notre Dame vs USC.

Notre Dame formally announces the series with BYU. More on that and the temporary end of the Irish-Trojans series in the below story. Administrators plan to work to restart USC-Notre Dame series as soon as 2030, sources tell @YahooSports.https://t.co/iRZCjY6Up0 https://t.co/sD4ZSgbZuO
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) December 22, 2025

Notre Dame vs BYU series makes a ton of sense

Notre Dame and BYU have a lot in common. Both institutions have very loyal fan bases and are centered around specific religious value systems that underpin the university's missions. After being accused of ducking out of a non-CFP bowl game with BYU this year, now is a perfect time to get the Cougars on the schedule with Notre Dame traveling to Provo in 2026 and BYU traveling to South Bend in 2027.

Nothing will ever replace Notre Dame vs USC, but I admire Pete Bevacqua's decision to try and find exciting games to replace the Trojans with, such as BYU and the upcoming yearly battles with Clemson that were agreed upon last year.

I often say there's never a dull moment in Notre Dame land, and I will say it again here and now. Hated or not, Notre Dame is a centerpiece of the college football universe, has always been, and will always be.