Ryan Roberts recaps the Notre Dame Fighting Irish adding a new ACC rival in the Clemson Tigers.
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00:00The historic rivalries for Notre Dame have been compromised in recent years, but it appears there
00:04could be a new one on the horizon. Clemson Tigers, Notre Dame fighting Irish. Let's talk the latest
00:10and why this is so important for Notre Dame. Ryan Robbins from A to Z Sports bringing down
00:18everything Notre Dame football. Folks, when I say the wonderful world of college football,
00:22what brings back nostalgia and brings back the joy of watching every Saturday more than the
00:29bitter rivalries we all grew up on. When you think about Notre Dame football, USC Trojans,
00:34Michigan Wolverines are a couple of teams that come really quickly, especially for me growing
00:40up. It was Michigan. That was the team that I hated dearly as a Notre Dame fan. I hated
00:45everything about Michigan from the team to the uniforms to the fan base, hated it all. But
00:52of course, in recent years, Notre Dame and Michigan's rivalry has kind of trended downward because
00:58they don't have them on the schedule every year. So we're trying to, we're kind of losing
01:01the love and hatred that we have for that rivalry. USC is a little bit of the same. Now, Notre
01:08Dame still plays USC for now, but that being renewed is a little bit of a question mark right
01:14now. And a lot of this is due to the conference realignment and allocation to playing different
01:21teams year in and year out. And now we are sitting here at a crossroad for Notre Dame football of the
01:27best part of college football, which is those rivalries, these fan bases, the game days,
01:33the atmosphere. All those things are so important for the sustainability of college football.
01:38Without those historic rivals that we grew up on, the USC or Michigan's, it has compromised
01:43our just innate craziness as fans. Luckily, there is a new rivalry that is on the horizon.
01:53It was reported on Tuesday by Ross Dellinger, Yahoo Sports, about a 12 year contract that is going
02:01to begin in 2027 between Notre Dame and Clemson. And initially people were not taken off guard
02:08because I do think that Notre Dame and Clemson have played a lot recently, obviously, and there's
02:12been some pretty dang good games in the stretch of recent years. But looking at it, this could be the
02:19beginning of a great new rivalry. And I think it's tremendous for Notre Dame football. First and
02:25foremost, Clemson has become a sustained winner under head coach Dabo Sweeney. And some people will
02:30say it's trending downward the last couple of years. But if you look at this team's outlook heading into
02:342025, they look like they have a great team on the horizon. They're starting to utilize the transfer
02:38portal now after being a little bit kind of hesitant of it early on. So I do think that this team is
02:44sustained and a good football team just in the college football playoff last year. So I think
02:49first and foremost, it's a good opponent year in and year out. I also think that the regionality
02:54perspective, Notre Dame is always going to have as long as the ACC is around, they're going to have
02:58some affiliation with that conference for obvious reasons. So I do think having a sustained rivalry
03:04with the best program right now in the ACC is not a bad thing for Notre Dame football as well.
03:10Now, on the other side, and there's been some back and forth because originally what Dellinger
03:15had put out was that this would not count towards the five ACC opponents that Notre Dame has to have
03:20every single year. And then it came back that this might count towards it. So we'll refrain and kind
03:26of, because it looks like there's a little bit of a conversation point that's happening between
03:30Notre Dame and the ACC. And I think that it still has to be fully decided at this point. But I just
03:36want to kind of put it out there that I love this perspective. And I love this next step for
03:40Notre Dame football. I think Clemson is a very good potential year in and year out rivalry.
03:45And I love the fact that they're moving into a modern age of rivalries. It might not be quite as
03:51as close to our hearts as what we grew up with Michigan and USC, but hopefully if they're able
03:56to sustain it a little bit with USC into the future and they're able to create a new great one
04:00with Clemson, I do think this is the great part in the tradition of college football. But folks,
04:05I want to hear from you. What do you think about this potential rivalry with Clemson?
04:09Do you like the 12-year deal? Do you like playing Clemson just in general? Make sure to put that
04:13in the comments below. Before you leave, hit that like button and subscribe. And as always,
04:17Go Irish!