The thought of Notre Dame and BYU taking part in yearly as a brand new “Holy War” in faculty soccer isn’t something new. You can crawl by means of the archives of message board for the previous 20 years and discover this precise subject introduced up by faculty soccer followers — although most likely not that many Notre Dame followers.
Notre Dame and BYU have performed simply 9 occasions with the Irish holding a 7-2 edge over the Cougars. The final win by BYU was the primary sport of the final season wherein Ty Willingham was in cost in South Bend. And but… BYU followers usually play round as if their program is on the identical stage as Notre Dame. Hell — BYU even tried to be an unbiased in soccer, however shortly ran to the Big 12 as soon as they’d a chance to take action. Just since you CAN be unbiased, doesn’t imply you may be like Notre Dame as an unbiased.
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But there was a wrench thrown into all of this final season. Notre Dame was screwed out of a spot within the faculty soccer playoff for Alabama, after which the Irish determined to name it a season somewhat than play in a meaningless bowl sport — which simply so occurred to be in opposition to BYU, who additionally felt like they had been screwed out of a playoff spot. This added some vinegar to the whole state of affairs between the 2 faculties as Notre Dame, regardless of there being an settlement, by no means got here again to Provo after the 2004 loss.
Things get even weirder as USC backed out of the rivalry with Notre Dame, and the Irish instantly added BYU to the 2026 schedule. This all led to an increasing number of conversations round ND and BYU, and a few media members had been principally making this the brand new ND vs Boston College sort of sequence. In these conversations, individuals are suggesting that BYU and Notre Dame should play every year.
And within the phrases of my favourite gasoline station clerk, THAT’S A HARD NO FOR ME DOG.
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Look, I don’t thoughts Notre Dame and BYU taking part in two or 3 times a decade, and I really perceive the whole logic behind an annual matchup — however as a fan, this isn’t one thing that makes me excited concerning the Notre Dame football schedule sooner or later.
Notre Dame has sufficient actual rivalries and sufficient faux rivalries for about 5 applications. There’s no have to make this matchup greater than what it’s (which is a scheduling settlement). I don’t consider for one minute that Notre Dame followers will put this sport on the identical stage as a USC or Michigan or Miami and even like Michigan State. And whereas I believe the BYU contingent would most likely welcome this a lot simpler than the Irish contingent — I don’t suppose they might ever put this on the identical stage on the Utah sport both.
So what’s the purpose?
Notre Dame should proceed to play BYU right here and there and have relationship with the varsity to to schedule video games when and the place it advantages each applications, however we don’t want a Civil Conflict Trophy sort of vibe right here — which is precisely what these which might be calling for an annual sport are literally doing right here.