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Notre Dame football has had their historic rivalries compromised in recent years, but the next great one has just been born

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Ryan Roberts | Last updated May 6, 2025 12:31 PM ET

When you think of historic college football rivalries, you start to think of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and a couple that they are involved in. Over their history as a program, Notre Dame has had some great games against the Michigan Wolverines and USC Trojans. So much so that the vast majority of Irish fans have developed a deep hatred for both programs and their fanbases.

With conference realignment and the changing landscape of college football over the last several years, rivalries have become compromised. With Michigan not on the schedule for the foreseeable future, it’ll be interesting to see how quickly that rivalry dies, if at all. USC still has that competitive hatred intact but there’s no telling how long that lasts with the potential for the two to be off the schedule in the future.

The natural question comes up: Who will be the biggest rival for the Fighting Irish moving forward? We may have gotten our answer on Tuesday via a report from Yahoo Sports college football writer Ross Dellenger. According to Dellenger, Notre Dame and the Clemson Tigers have agreed to a 12-year annual football scheduling deal. That deal is independent of the ACC structure and will not count toward the five Notre Dame ACC games.

Notre Dame & Clemson have struck a 12-year annual football scheduling deal, sources tell @YahooSports. The series works independently of the ACC structure but does count as one of ND’s five ACC games.

Irish also expected to play FSU & Miami more regularly.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) May 6, 2025

While some Notre Dame fans will hold firm to the past rivalries, this move is an outstanding one for head coach Marcus Freeman and the program. With how quickly the landscape is changing, creating a potentially great new rivalry is massive for continued stability as a national title contender. This is also against a school that has created their own strong brand across the country, and this rivalry helps preserve that from both sides.

Clemson and Notre Dame have played several times over the last several years, and have had a couple of really good games during that stretch. Head coach Dabo Swinney has built a very good program down in South Carolina, and the team looks to be set up for a deep playoff run heading into the 2025 season.

This agreement being outside of the structure of the ACC is also notable. With the constant changes of conference structuring, and lack of understanding for the long term future of the ACC, Notre Dame and Clemson can maintain their relationship independent of it. If something does happen, and the programs are forced into a different conference situation in the future, they have the ability to control their situation the best they can, at least for the next 12 years beginning in 2027.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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