The Michigan Wolverines and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will renew their football series in 2018, the two schools announced on Thursday.
Notre Dame and Michigan have agreed to a home-and-home series. The two schools will meet on Sept. 1, 2018 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend and on Oct. 26, 2019 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.
“This is a game that holds great significance for the student-athletes and coaches who compete on the field,” said Warde Manuel, U-M’s Donald R. Shepherd Director of Athletics. “A great deal of credit goes to Coach Harbaugh and Coach Kelly for initiating the discussion of scheduling this series. This rivalry is also important for the fans of both programs, and we look forward to renewing one of college football’s great rivalries.”
Michigan and Notre Dame last met in 2014 at Notre Dame Stadium where the Fighting Irish rolled to a 31-0 win. The two schools first met on the football field in 1887 and Michigan leads the overall series 24-17-1.
“We are having on-going discussions regarding extending the series with Notre Dame but nothing is finalized,” Manuel said. “I look forward to working with Jack Swarbrick to try to accomplish this common goal while striving to achieve a balance of seven home games each season. Scheduling is a fluid process and we need to be strategic in the way we schedule out into the future.”
The two schools were previously scheduled to play play from 2015 through 2017, but Notre Dame canceled those games. That cancellation, which left the Wolverines with no future games against the Irish, was primarily due to Notre Dame agreeing to schedule five games against ACC teams each season.
“Today is a great day for Notre Dame, Michigan and college football fans across the country,” Notre Dame vice president and James E. Rohr Director of Athletics Jack Swarbrick said. “Shortly after Warde Manuel was hired as Michigan’s athletic director, he and I began working to make this renewal of the series possible. That we could get games on the schedule as soon as ’18 and ’19 required a lot of work by our staffs and some great cooperation by the Big Ten, ACC and other schools that were on our future schedules.
To make room for the series, Michigan has cancelled a previously scheduled home-and-home series with the Arkansas Razorbacks and “will fulfill the obligations set forth in the contract.” Michigan and Arkansas were scheduled to meet on Sept. 1, 2018 in Ann Arbor and on Aug. 31, 2019 in Fayetteville.
Additionally, Michigan was previously scheduled to host Rutgers on Oct. 26, 2019. That game has now been moved to Sept. 28, 2019 to accommodate the UM-Notre Dame game.
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