This is a piece that hurts to write, even though we’ve been told this was coming for some time now. I honestly never thought it would hurt to write it, as for years I have been one to say that if this rivalry ends, I would laugh. USC has been planting the seeds of ending the Notre Dame series for some time, and sadly today that possibility became reality as both programs jointly announced a pause in their rivalry until 2030. When it came down the bittersweet feeling of disappointment washed over me instead of that long-awaited laugh.

As many of you reading this already know, I grew up loving Notre Dame football, and that love has only deepened with time. The Fighting Irish are a part of me, my family, and of course my Saturday’s. What comes hand in hand with that is hating a few teams in particular like Michigan, Michigan State and most of all USC. The two have played each other since 1926, and only paused for the Second World War and the 2020 Covid pandemic. But on top of world changing events greed, whining and a broken sport can be added to the pile of reasons why this rivalry won’t celebrate its 100th anniversary.

Lincoln Riley planted the seeds for this change a few years back and both sides have only chosen to push each other further apart. We’ve heard everything from travel issues, to the weather, and many more reasons as to why from a Trojan perspective this series can’t continue. They have also said how much they value their BIG TEN partners…who reside in the midwest and play in the cold, so sure there no holes in that logic. Afterall USC has so much shared history with Iowa and not the PAC 12 mates they destroyed.

Meanwhile from the Irish side, it mostly comes down wanting to maintain their independence cause even I readily admit they have it better than pretty much any other school in college ball. The desire to keep the money coming in and “maintain relationships” with Stanford, Navy, and the ACC are mostly to blame for the ND side of the coin. Which I’ve never been able to get my head around that part, as there is no good reason for ND to want to play several dead programs and occasionally draw an ACC big dog.

Both of them, through how absolutely broken College Football is today, will feel like they won here. While I’m sure it’s easy to feel that way when the money is bigger than it’s ever been for all the major programs, as usual no one involved in running this sport really has any respect for it. While I may feel USC has gone out of their way to avoid a series their coach doesn’t want to play anymore, I’m even more mad that Notre Dame couldn’t find a way to make this union work. Because while these two parties may feel like they won, the fans on both sides are the losers.

The Colesium and Notre Dame Stadium are two grand stages, deserving of marquee games. Sure, Notre Dame has found ways to host those kid matchups despite their independence, and USC can host Ohio State or Michigan or Oregon in the BIG 10 but losing each other off the slate is a blow. To me it’s felt more by Notre Dame fans, as this is a situation where the schools independence does hurt the home schedule. Next year should you be fortunate to attend a home game in South Bend, you’ll be primed to see such notable games as Michigan State, Rice, Miami, Boston College, SMU, and Stanford.

So outside of Miami and the Spartans, only one of which may be good next year by the way, the Irish are three horrible teams and a program they have no history with in SMU. It’s a schedule with very little juice or intrigue, despite them playing Miami, Wisconsin at Lambeau Field, and BYU in Provo, the replacement game for USC. There isn’t even a resume there should they need to fall back on one in a playoff debate. Similar to this year’s scenario where their strength of schedule wasn’t there and they had to sweat it out and ultimately missed the playoff.

This is the rivalry with more National Championships (24), the most draft picks ever (over 1,000), and 15 Heisman winners between them. It is filled with memorable moments like the ones you see above. But just like that, all that is put on “hiatus” and if and when it comes back it won’t return the way it was. This sport will change more irreparably between now and then, probably for the worse because no one is trying to preserve it. The Trojans and the Irish are far from the first pair of rivals to have this happen. you certainly don’t need to tell me that. We went a decade without a “Lone Star showdown”, Michigan and Notre Dame don’t meet anymore, and there is no more Bedlam in Oklahoma. Am I glad Notre Dame won eight of the last nine meetings before USC said adios? You bet I am. Will I lord it over them until next time? You bet I will. But you’re absolutely right when you say “you’ll miss these games,” because I definitely will. They can both have their reasons for why this is good for them, but none of them are good enough to abandon the traditions that made this sport what it is.

On twitter you can find Mike @Mike_Sheerin, Tyler @TMon_19 and Sean @SeanMartinNFL. Subscribe to the site by hitting the follow button in the bottom right corner and entering your email address. Check out our Instagram feed @thebroadwaybreakdownsports for special gameday and promotional content. Our podcasts are available on Spotify. Visit the Rangers Ed Shop by clicking the link on our homepage. Check out our mailbag page to join the conversation here on the site and on our partners show, The Rangers Ed Podcast! We’ll be back with more soon.