Notre Dame and Texas are talking like two programs that know exactly what a marquee matchup looks like.
The Fighting Irish and Longhorns are already set for a home-and-home series beginning in 2028, with Notre Dame hosting in South Bend that season and Texas getting the return game in Austin in 2029. And if Notre Dame athletics director Pete Bevacqua gets his way, that won’t be the end of it.
“I talk to Chris Del Conte often,” Bevacqua recently told "The Golics," referencing the Texas athletic director (h/t On3). “We’re both bullish and gung-ho about keeping that game on the schedule.
You talk about two of the great brands in college football playing one another. That’s going to be great here, it’s going to be great there."
Bevacqua also said another home-and-home series involving a blueblood and the Irish will be announced soon, and he made clear Notre Dame is not backing away from heavyweight scheduling. With head coach Marcus Freeman on board, the Irish are leaning into the biggest stages they can find.
“There’s great interest in playing Notre Dame, and we want to play the best as often as we can," the athletic director said.
That approach fits the moment Notre Dame is in after renewing its classic rivalry with USC, a series that starts again in 2030. Between that news and the Texas talks, the Irish are pushing hard to keep high-profile games on the calendar.
A Notre Dame-Texas primetime matchup would pull in a massive audience, even from people who only casually follow college football. And if the series becomes annual, it would bring back a little of what made the sport feel bigger for so long: historic programs meeting in games that actually feel like events.
Before conference realignment, NIL and the transfer portal changed the landscape, college football was built on rivalries and blockbusters. Notre Dame and Texas would fit that mold perfectly.
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For Irish fans, the more interesting part is the path. Pates projection sends Notre Dame through Oregon and Indiana before a title-game meeting with Texas, a run that says plenty about how highly he views Marcus Freemans roster and defense. It also puts Indiana in a playoff debate few Hoosiers supporters likely imagined, even if the real intrigue still lies in whether the bracket ever comes close to matching the one Pate has sketched out. [Read more 🡒]
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Notre Dames defense brings back enough proven players to believe it can stay steady from top to bottom, and Shulers job is to help keep that standard in place. The Irish are counting on their secondary to avoid any soft spots, and if Shuler takes the step he expects, he could be one of the key reasons that group holds up when the pressure rises. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Fall Camp Is Already Shaping Three Crucial Battles
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Marty Biagi added another layer to the early picture by outlining a tailored plan for kicker Spencer Porath as camp moves along, a reminder that even the special teams work is being handled with care. For the Irish, the next few weeks will be about more than reps and conditioning, because the biggest questions are already surfacing in the places that often decide the season. [Read more 🡒]