Nov 30, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard (13) runs the ball against the Southern California Trojans during the first half at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

College Football Rivalries Bring The Country Together

Originally posted on Notre Dame Fighting Irish on SI
By John Kennedy | Last updated May 23, 2025 12:41 PM ET

In a world full of division, football bonds the nation

We live in challenging social times - yeah, no kidding.

In many ways, it feels like our country has never been more divided. Social media, which is both the best and worst invention at the exact same time, thrives on political division, drama, and heated rhetorical debate that pits people in pigeon-holed camps against others with totally opposite motives and desired outcomes. This division pays, and your algorithm knows it.

It's toxic, unhealthy, and hard to escape.

Until each college football season rolls around, and then something magnificent happens.

College football starts, and suddenly, timelines that were filled all summer with political hatred, social division, and mindless time-killing fillers get cleansed with football information.

And the country unites as one around the sport that has meant so much to so many from every corner of the country. It's truly a beautiful thing.

This is USC's schedule this year. If they take away Notre Dame, how many games would their fans even care about? Three? (Michigan, Oregon, UCLA).

It astounds me how schools can be so indifferent/oblivious to the priorities of their own fan base. pic.twitter.com/NLEdwJKYU8
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) May 20, 2025

College football rivalries fuel the healthiest hatred that exists

Unlike societal issues, there's one thing that America agrees on - football rules.

No matter who voted for whom, where you are from, how you view the world, and what your value system is, once that ball gets kicked in the air, we are all the same.

Sure, we wear different colors each Saturday, but we value the same things on the football field, and there's value in that at the end of the day. There's a bigger lesson to be learned here.

College football's nostalgic, unique feel that is so generationally intoxicating for so many of our families is fueled by heated rivalries.

These games are the heartbeat of college football. From Notre Dame-USC on down the line, nothing compares to the electric energy these matchups provide the country.

I know I'm getting old, and the times have changed; new priorities have emerged, but I'm begging the powers that be to find a way to keep rivalry games going.

They might be silly, and it's all just a game, but America loves college football rivalries.

Find a way to keep USC vs Notre Dame going, everyone. America needs this.

For more Irish news & notes, follow John on Twitter @alwaysirishINC, Always Irish on Youtube and on your preferred audio podcast provider.

This article first appeared on Notre Dame Fighting Irish on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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