The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the BYU Cougars have scheduled a home-and-home football series for the 2026 and 2027 seasons, it was announced Monday.
The series will kickoff with Notre Dame traveling to face BYU at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah, on a date to be determined during the 2026 season. The Fighting Irish will then host the Cougars at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Ind., during the 2027 season on a date to be announced.
“We are excited to announce this home-and-home series between BYU and Notre Dame for the 2026 and 2027 seasons,” said BYU Director of Athletics Brian Santiago. “We have tremendous respect for Notre Dame, and appreciate Director of Athletics Pete Bevacqua, who has been great to work with in arranging this series. These will be competitive football games, and will highlight Kalani Sitake and Marcus Freeman, two of the best leaders and coaches in college football. As private, faith-based institutions, BYU and Notre Dame share many common values, and this series provides an exceptional opportunity to showcase two world-class universities. It’s a matchup that will resonate strongly with Cougar fans and college football fans everywhere.”
Notre Dame and BYU have met nine times previously on the gridiron, although contests in 2012 and 2013 were vacated. The Fighting Irish won the most recent contest in 2022, 28-20, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, and currently lead the overall series 5-2.
The addition of BYU finalizes Notre Dame’s schedule for the 2026 season, which signals a pause in Notre Dame’s long-standing series with the USC Trojans. Notre Dame and USC had played every season since 1946, with the exception of the 2020 season that was rocked by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Notre Dame, a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Independent, is scheduled to open the 2026 season against the Wisconsin Badgers at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisc., on Sunday, Sept. 6. The Irish are also scheduled to host Rice, Michigan State, Miami FL, Boston College, SMU, and Stanford, and travel to Purdue, North Carolina, Navy (in East Rutherford, NJ), and Syracuse.
Notre Dame is the third announced non-conference opponent for BYU in both seasons. The Cougars’ 2026 slate also includes a home game against the Utah Tech Trailblazers on Sept. 5 and a road tilt against the Colorado State Rams on Sept. 19.
Football Schedules
Anything but continuing the USC-ND series I guess
Pretty nice series between ND and BYU, but I hate to see the USC series go away.
I´m absolutely stoked to have Notre Dame in Provo next year but I do agree with hating to have the Notre Dame-USC rivalry end.
Kudos to BYU for stepping forward to give Notre Dame a h&h. Definitely can consider it a matchup of the two teams that would have been very interesting to see in the playoff instead of the one and done Tulane and JMU.
BYU is a nice opponent, but it is absolutely pathetic that Notre Dame is cancelling the USC series.
Notre Dame is not cancelling the USC series. USC is to blame for this.
Notre Dame-USC deserves a break scheduling in CFB have been very difficult & please do not blame both Notre Dame & USC it’s realignment that screwing up the schedule however it’s giving more conference games in power 4 & now you will be seeing UCLA-USC play every Thanksgiving weekend which I am very enthusiastic about plus Big Ten are fans of doing all conference games on last weekend of regular season.
It seems like they both are to blame. USC wanted to move a trip to South Bend to September (because they were already making a bunch of mid-season trips to the Midwest). ND wasn’t willing to budge from the traditional schedule.
Notre Dame are such cowards. If they don’t get the schedule on their terms, they get up and leave. They refuse to see that entire conferences have new rules and realities in place. Cowards.
Oh please, USC is just as much to blame.
It always takes 2 to tango!
Facts If USC wants to be part of Big Ten, they have to live by the rules & remember USC abandoned original PAC conference.
They’re both to blame. Dan, USC is living by B10 rules. nD is a OOC game.
Richard I am excellent with Notre Dame-USC finally getting a break for right now.
Merry Christmas Richard hope you have an excellent one buddy.
Blame ESPN for putting 3 loss Alabama and Texas over USC despite USC’s superior 10 team power 4 schedule. Blame SEC for playing weak OOC games (3 cupcakes, 1 P4, 8 conference games) and ESPN favoring them. Then blame ND for not being accommodating to USCs new world. You can blame USC for adjusting to the new world. The league needs parity, and ND should adjust now that they don’t play 5 of their biggest rivals anymore.
Kudos to BYU for stepping forward to give Notre Dame a h&h. Definitely can consider it a matchup of the two teams that would have been very interesting to see in the playoff instead of the one and done Tulane and JMU.
Forget Tulane and JMU. BYU should´ve been in over Miami, Texas A&M, Notre Dame, and Alabama.
Wow. What a eff up by either/both USC and ND.
I cannot say I´m happy about USC-ND ending, but I´m very excited for this game next year.
Now USC is going to have to fill that last slot of their schedule with a G6 school, giving them 0 P4 non-conference games for next year. I can’t find a single P4 team with an open slot on their schedule left.
Depending on if you want to consider Oregon State and Washington State power opponents, starting in 2026, that leaves the following schools with only 9 P4 games (8+1 or 9+0). This is why the ACC went to 9 games by the way (lack of OOC slots for teams).
Arizona (Has WSU)
Houston (Has ORST)
Indiana
Kansas State (Has WSU)
Nebraska
Penn State
Texas Tech (Has ORST)
USC
Washington (Has WSU)
you guys in the comment section blaming ND when its USC that publicly backed out of the discussion with ND in November on their 2-year extension of the series. I’m not a fan of either team, just capable of reading before commenting.
Supposedly there was an agreement in place to play in November 2026, until USC learned of ND’s guaranteed top 12 CFP spot, per this link- https://x.com/i/status/2003231160756015602.
Las Vegas would make a perfect neutral site for Notre Dame vs USC to start 2028 CFB season 9/2.
At least UCLA-USC will play every Thanksgiving weekend which I really wanted the most to support Big 10 playing all conference games on last weekend if CFB regular season.
Notre Dame playing various ACC on Thanksgiving weekend is fantastic idea & make life easier for ACC
This is my educated guess for remaining of Notre Dame 2026 schedule.
10/10 vs Stanford
10.24 vs SMU
11/14 at BYU
11/28 at Syracuse
(Thanksgiving weekend)
I must have missed the “announcement”. Where is it “confirmed” Stanford is playing ND in 2026?
It hasn’t been confirmed or announced, only reported by ND beat reporters.
Yay!!!!! What a game to have at home. Win this game and there´s nothing the pathetic excuse for a committee can do as well as ESECPN. I like the odds against ND at home next year.
My educated guess week 11 11/14 when your BYU Cougars will host Notre Dame.
This is a mock schedule for Big 12 Week 11
Notre Dame at BYU
Colorado at Oklahoma State
Baylor at Arizona State
Cincinnati at Houston
Kansas State at Iowa State
Kansas at Utah
West Virginia at Texas Tech
TCU at UCF
Bye: Arizona
I hate both schools I’m glad they won’t play anymore, it’s about time someone dropped the crying Irish instead of helping them have a tougher looking schedule.
Illininoles97 I am very blessed & happy that Notre Dame-USC finally get a break for time being & I really would want to see UCLA-USC play every Thanksgiving weekend & same for Notre Dame vs any ACC opponent.
September would be excellent month for Notre Dame-USC when rivalry resume with many Midwest away games for USC & P4 teams other than ACC for Notre Dame.
If my preferred format for the CFP had been in place this year, BYU would have played at ND in one of the first round games for the Osborne region (non-Southern teams).
When it comes right down to it, that format is not all that different from how pro sports leagues divide their playoffs. Postseasons in those leagues divide their playoff teams by conference for early rounds, with the last surviving team from each conference meeting in the final round.
Likewise, this CFP format matches the last team from the South with the last team from outside the South.