Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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it did in the past, the conference will be back in force on the schedule: Michigan State in 2016-17 (and tenta- tively 2026-27), Michigan in 2018-19, a return match at Northwestern in 2018, Purdue in 2020-21 (and ten- tatively 2024-26), and Ohio State in 2022-23. Thus, the Big Ten is taken care of at least through 2027. • The SEC is a little trickier be- cause Notre Dame's last such series was with Tennessee from 2004-05. However, Swarbrick added Georgia in 2017 (home) and 2019 (away). Oth- ers in the future might tilt toward one-time Shamrock Series meetings at prime neutral sites. "We've never had a conversation that wasn't well received about the potential to do that," Swarbrick said. "Some of them might be Shamrock Series opportunities. Some of them might be home and home [Georgia]. I can't think of anybody we've ever talked to in my time here that wasn't interested in playing." • The Big 12 featured marquee matchups with Oklahoma (2012-13) and now Texas (2015-16), and per The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Notre Dame has reached out to TCU for potential home-and-home or Shamrock Series game(s), albeit the earliest might be 2025. "The important thing is to develop markers against all the conferences, or as many conferences as you can … so as the selection committee is evaluating you against other confer- ences, it has something it can look at," Swarbrick said. Having all five Power Five leagues represented over a 12-game slate Swarbrick has made a concerted effort to have all of the Power Five leagues represented on future Irish football schedules. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS