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.
@Richard I believe the contention was actually regarding the LA hosted game moving to September instead of its traditionally November occurrence, where USC’s preference was to not have it scheduled so late in the season.
Reverend Winton Dupree
Here is my educated guess on Notre Dame-USC series when it resumes.
9/2/2028 Las Vegas neutral site game
9/8/2029 at South Bend
9/7/2030 at L.A.
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.
Don’t you just love how the crying Irish talk about tradition, rivalries and all the other crap they spew? Looks like the only every season rivalry they have now, is that powerhouse Navy, gulp. They have stripped the schedule down to the point they have 2 hard games a year if that, and if they can manipulate the ACC portion so they can have easier games. The Miami game next year is an example of how they change it all the time to their advantage. Hope more teams tell ND to stick it until they join a conference full time
Illininoles97 Notre Dame is excellent as an Independent with contractional obligations with ACC.
Santa Claus is watching you & you better have a Merry Christmas & be excellent.
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)
Here is my educated guess for Notre Dame home games under the lights in 2026.
9/19 Michigan State
10/10 Stanford
11/7 Miami
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.
Z-Man Forget Mason-Dixon Notre Dame will play BYU next two season in both 2026 & 2027 & I really want Las Vegas to be neutral site of Notre Dame-USC first week of 2028 when rivalry resumes again.
Merry Christmas Z-Man hope you be good buddy.
If ND-USC resumes in 2028 the game needs to be in its traditional spots on the schedule and in the traditional venues. Maintaining that tradition is important to me.
If you are going to be a Big Ten fan Z-Man, you are going have to deal with UCLA-USC playing every Thanksgiving weekend.
Notre Dame-USC playing in September is a much better fit with USC making extended visit to Midwest now a member of Big Ten & Notre Dame to play P4 teams outside ACC.
Favor or opposed nine game conference schedule three OOC schedule will be very common with P4 & there is nothing you cannot do to change it & again conference games are heart & soul of CFB while rivalry games belong on Thanksgiving weekend.
Furthermore L.A. Coliseum will not be available to USC in 2028 due to the Summer Olympic games & Las Vegas would be perfect setting to start the 2028 CFB season for Notre Dame-USC.
Notre Dame-USC was fantastic on Thanksgiving weekend when USC was a member of Pac 8 later 10 & 12.
Prior to great Northwest & southern California expanding Big Ten are fans of playing conference games since Thanksgiving weekend extended the schedule & that is their goal which includes UCLA-USC every year.
You are going have to adjust Notre Dame-USC playing in September when rivalry resumes Z-Man & it is getting darn right hard to keep traditions going in CFB with realignment which have greatly affected & I have zero issues with it.
Mormons vs. Catholics
I love it
Week 11 11/14 is my educated guess for Catholics vs Mormons.
Lincoln Riley got his wish despite much publicized criticisms from notable Trojan alumni. Would have to believe there is now even less room for error in 2026, with a CFP bid being a minimum requirement to continue his tenor (in spite of the buyout).
I hope ND continues to refuse joining a a conference moving forward!
100% agreed. It’s amazing how much Notre Dame’s Independence grates on so many people.
If ND is getting some type of unfair advantage by being independent, wouldn’t there be a rush of other programs leaving conferences to become independent?
ND is excellent as an independent.
Jesper: ND gets unfair advantages as an independent (such as being guaranteed a playoff spot if it is top 12 starting in 2026) that other independents like UConn don’t.
Richard, every constituent in the playoff is guaranteed a bid for a Top 12 finish. The constituents are the 10 conferences and Notre Dame. Even if more than five conference champions finish in the top 12, those ranked outside the first five champions will be at-large qualifiers. So Notre Dame’s qualification for a Top 12 finish seems equal to the treatment for the other 10 constituents.
UConn, which you cite, is an interesting example. As one of only two independents, they may be the only program in FBS that is currently not a CFP constituent. I’m not sure.
But even UConn will qualify most years for a Top 11 finish — under the current construct, which does seem likely to expand sooner rather than later — and other years for a Top 10 finish, leaving aside being in the Top 12 is fairly hypothetical for a program that hasn’t been anywhere near those levels for at least a decade and whose impressive coach just departed for …. G6 non-power Colorado State.
Jesper: Nope, what you said isn’t true. Just this year, besides ND, BYU was in the top 12 of the final CFP rankings and did not make the CFP.
I still don’t get the vitriol over ND remaining an football independent. For the record, Connecticut is also an independent and for some reason, there is not outrage about that!
Did ND act like a baby when they didn’t get into the CFP? Yes? Did the committee do the propler thing by picking Miami over ND? Yes.
@BYUfan: Love the Cougs, but those two blowouts to TTU did them in. The committee had no choice.
ND still needs the ACC. Yes, they’re mad at the ACC, but they need them. USC’s reluctance to keep playing the Irish underscores this. With 9 conference games, and assumingly, at least one P4 opponent, that leaves little wiggle room for ND-USC. And, let’s be fair, there hasn’t been a classic ND-USC game in quite some time. I grew up in the 70s–I remember Joe Montana crushing the Trojans in ’77 en route tobeing voted champions. But, the game really “doesn’t do it anymore.”
That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t keep playing it, but why can’t the dates move? Why can’t USC ask ND to play this game when USC is gearing up for the B1G play?
ND needs the ACC and them taking shots at the conference was “not a good look.” They get 5 ACC opponents per year and most year, they go 4-1 or 5-0 against them. Imagine if the ACC dumped ND? The Irish would then have to beg the B1G, the B12, and the SEC for games and would likelt have to schedule more G6 teams. That won’t enhance their CFP resume.
I read about ND leaving the ACC and rejoining the Big East for basketball and the other sports, but that doesn’t help football. There is still going to be one more major realignment, nobody knows whan it is coming, but is is indedd coming. Best to sit chilly until things shake out.
https://johnny228.wordpress.com/2025/12/09/the-college-football-playoff-gets-it-wrong-again/
USC _was_ winning to move the USC-ND game (to Week Zero). It was ND which was unwilling to change from the traditional dates and decided to end this rivalry.
I enjoy watching Norte Dame but after quitting this season cause it didn’t go their way the football gods will not be kind to them (see Florida State). It shows their team did not deserve to be in the playoff. That being said their best option is to join the ACC under their current terms while keeping their TV contract in tact. It’s good for all parties involved
I want Notre Dame to remain independent however continue primary schedule obligations with ACC & speaking of ACC, Notre Dame to play various opponents from that conference during Thanksgiving weekend every year.
September would be perfect fit for Notre Dame-USC when rivalry resume.
Actually, historically Notre Dame is 7-2 in the series….not 5-2. I think that with Super Conferences and the money now being offered to players…college football is dead. Historic and great old rivalries are also dying quickly so teams can make room for playing more conference teams. College football is destroyed. I think Notre Dame is the final link to historic college football and will find it harder and harder to find teams to play as contractual agreements and revenue sharing will end up destroying these rivalries. I am very proud having grown up IRISH as I lived a few miles from the campus. Iwill miss USC and the historic link we have with them. The game is now about money only and the attachment to PRIDE, HONOR, History and deepening the real reasons to play are gone. Notre Dame is the greatest link we have to that and I think it is dying quickly. I know that the love of the game, for me, is dying. I have already left the NFL due to its political correctness and MLB. I am proud to be one of the last lovers of the game and my generation. I am 64 now and believe my generation will be the last generation to witness and know what real college football was.
I am fully Optimistic that Notre Dame-USC will renew its long-standing rivalry beginning first week of 2028 CFB season & Las Vegas would make a perfect neutral site & September is a very nice fit for Notre Dame-USC rivalry.
Well, I got back from Christmas and I am still absolutely furious that Notre Dame cancelled their biggest rivalry. Why even field a team if you aren’t playing your rival?
Furthermore, I found out that Las Vegas will host Oregon State vs BYU first week of 2028 CFB regular season & I have another solution for Notre Dame-USC to renew its rivalry how about Suburban Phoenix Glendale, Arizona State Farm Stadium would make a perfect neutral site to host Notre Dame-USC first week of 2028 CFB regular season & hopefully more neutral site games in future for Valley Of The Sun.
I fully support USC Head Coach Lincoln Riley that he wants Notre Dame-USC to be played first three weeks of CFB regular season that is appropriate with big ten scheduling which they really favor at that period.
If I were a Notre Dame fan, I am not afraid of traditions ending especially ever-changing world of college football.
Why would this game be played in Phoenix or Vegas when it could be played at USC’s much larger home stadium in the much larger city of Los Angeles?
I’m a Notre Dame fan and I am pretty upset about this rivalry ending. I think Notre Dame should accommodate Lincoln Riley’s demands to play the game early in the season, though I don’t understand why the game would ever be played at a neutral site.
John Due to 2028 Summer Olympics & L.A. Coliseum will not be available in time for CFB season. Neutral site game would be an option & this would be perfect for both fan bases Notre Dame & USC in Valley of the Sun.
Earliest for L.A. Coliseum to host Notre Dame-USC will be week two of 2030 CFB regular season.
There are real reasons why this game has to move as it currently is:
1. All B10 teams play week 12 (last week of the season). If they don’t, they will be at a scheduling disadvantage with no bye throughout the season.
2. Because the B10 has even amount of teams, USC needs a B10 team to partner to play an OOC game on the same week as USC plays ND. In 2024, UCLA played Fresno State at end of season. They won’t want to do that again. USC doesn’t want to play ND every other year at ND to end the season. But even if they did, they would still need a B10 team to play an OOC game that week.
3. Notre Dame does not understand the above. In the PAC 12, USC had Stanford as a partner. If Stanford joined the B10, it would only make sense for ND to join.
First four weeks of CFB regular season is solution to resume Notre Dame-USC rivalry which would be excellent for Big Ten.