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Rivalry Headed To Supernova Finish In the final moments before a star ceases to exist, scientists say it can emit as much energy as the sun will in its entire lifetime. It shoots bits and pieces of itself into space at up to 67,000 miles per hour in one of nature's finest grand finales. Like the death of a star, the end of the Notre Dame-Michigan series is bringing out its very best. murphy's Law dan murphy The two teams meet Saturday night for their last scheduled game at Michigan Stadium and the second-to-last time overall for at least the rest of this decade. Schedule constraints led the Irish to back out of three games planned for 2015-17, which led to Brady Hoke telling a room full of Michigan alumni that Notre Dame was "chickening out" of the series, which led to a little extra fervor among fans this summer. The feeling was heightened by the fact that an atmosphere of oversaturation and public relations guidelines have all but dried up the antagonizing banter and animosity that used to make college football rivalries a bit more exciting. Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly, whether intentionally or not, added briefly to the podium sparring Sunday when he downplayed the significance of the series. "I really haven't seen it as one of those historic, traditional Notre Dame rivalries," Kelly said, before changing his mind a couple days later. In some ways, Kelly is right. Michigan isn't a traditional annual opponent for Notre Dame. The Irish have played the Wolverines 40 times in their shared history. They've played USC, Navy and Purdue 84 times each. But the culture of tradition at Notre Dame has a way of convincing fans that if it's happening now in South Bend, it's been happening the same way for the past 125 years. "The Michigan case is an interesting one because people have this perception of this historical, long-standing number of competitions between Michigan and Notre Dame, but in reality they haven't been playing that long," said David Tyler, a 2001 Notre Dame graduate and a professor of sports management at Western Carolina University. Tyler and his research partner, Joe Cobbs, have been searching for several years for a more scientific definition of what constitutes a true rivalry. They found that how often the two teams play is a significant contributor, but far from the only one. Other factors like geography, cultural similarities, parity and memorable moments are equally, if not more, important in building a rivalry. Notre Dame and Michigan check all those boxes, some of them even more in recent meetings. Parity? Notre Dame is 10-10 against the Wolverines in the last quarter century. The last four games have all been decided by a touchdown or less as both programs trend upward in the national rankings. Memorable moments? Michigan won three of those last four games with touchdowns in the final 30 seconds of regulation, each time erasing what would look like a dramatic comeback for the Irish. The 2011 finish to the first night game ever played at The Big House was one of the best regular-season games of the college football season that year. Notre Dame ended its losing streak with its 13-6 win a year ago on a night in which tens of thousands of fans wore lei for Irish linebacker Manti Te'o, a gesture that now stirs all kinds of different memories. Saturday's game and next year's meet- With great games on the field and antagonizing banter off it, the Notre Dame-Michigan series is ending, at least temporarily, with a bang. photo by lon horwedel ing in South Bend promise to be just as exciting. Both teams have realistic BCS bowl aspirations this season and likely will in 2014 as well. The feeling of finality that surrounds both contests will certainly add to the hype. It already has in the week leading up to this Saturday's game. It seems that after a long and spotty history, the Notre Dame-Michigan rivalry is nearing a peak. That's no reason to mourn its temporary loss. The Irish schedule is re✦ Page 21 plete with teams that fit the rival description. Tyler and Cobb's research showed that those games mean more when there are fewer of them on the schedule. Michigan's absence will give annual matchups like the one against Stanford a chance to grow in national significance. In the meantime, fans get two more years to watch college football's version of a supernova. Enjoy the show. ✦ E-mail Dan at dmurphy@blueandgold.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @BGI_DanMurphy.