Labor Day matchups in Notre Dame's football future with ACC
SOUTH BEND — If Notre Dame and Florida State don’t cross paths again in this season’s first College Football Playoff, they may have to wait until 2018 to reprise last Saturday’s 31-27 Seminole victory.
By that time, only the redshirting freshmen on both squads are likely to remain on their respective rosters.
Notre Dame and the ACC jointly announced Tuesday the Irish/ACC matchups through 2025 and specific dates for the 2017-2019 seasons. Beginning this year, ND started playing on average five ACC schools a year in football as part of the agreement to bring the Irish into the fold as full members in men’s and women’s basketball and most Olympic sports.
The future schedules include two Labor Day matchups, both on the road — in 2019 at Louisville and 2021 at Florida State.
All 14 ACC programs will come to Notre Dame Stadium at least twice between 2014 and 2025, and each ACC team will host at least two games against the Irish. The Nov. 21, 2015 game at Fenway Park in Boston versus Boston College is the only one of the 60 future games designated as a Shamrock Series off-site home game for ND.
“The football partnership between the ACC and Notre Dame is a terrific enhancement for all parties,” said ACC commissioner John Swofford via a prepared statement.
“Notre Dame not only adds to our league’s already highly ambitious schedules, it also provides the opportunity for almost all of our student-athletes to play against Notre Dame during their careers. When you add in the excitement that it brings to our fans, there’s no question that this partnership is significant.”
The actual number of ACC games will vary between four and six per season.
Here are the year-by-year lineups:
2014
1. Notre Dame vs. Syracuse at MetLife Stadium (Sept. 27) *
2. North Carolina at Notre Dame (Oct. 11)
3. Notre Dame at Florida State (Oct. 18)
4. Louisville at Notre Dame (Nov. 22)
2015
1. Notre Dame at Virginia (Sept. 12)
2. Georgia Tech at Notre Dame (Sept. 19)
3. Notre Dame at Clemson (Oct. 3)
4. Notre Dame at Pittsburgh (Nov. 7)
5. Wake Forest at Notre Dame (Nov. 14)
6. Notre Dame vs. Boston College at Fenway Park (Nov. 21) @
2016
1. Duke at Notre Dame (Sept. 24)
2. Notre Dame vs. Syracuse at MetLife Stadium (Oct. 1) *
3. Notre Dame at North Carolina State (Oct. 8)
4. Miami at Notre Dame (Oct. 29)
5. Virginia Tech at Notre Dame (Nov. 19)
2017
1. Notre Dame at Boston College (Sept. 16)
2. Notre Dame at North Carolina (Oct. 7)
3. North Carolina State at Notre Dame (Oct. 28)
4. Wake Forest at Notre Dame (Nov. 4)
5. Notre Dame at Miami (Nov. 11)
2018
1. Syracuse at Notre Dame (Sept. 22)
2. Notre Dame at Virginia Tech (Oct. 13)
3. Pittsburgh at Notre Dame (Oct. 20)
4. Florida State at Notre Dame (Nov. 10)
5. Notre Dame at Wake Forest (Nov. 17)
2019
1. Notre Dame at Louisville (Sept. 2/Labor Day)
2. Virginia at Notre Dame (Sept. 28)
3. Notre Dame at Georgia Tech (Oct. 19)
4. Virginia Tech at Notre Dame (Nov. 2)
5. Notre Dame at Duke (Nov. 9)
6. Boston College at Notre Dame (Nov. 23)
2020
1. Notre Dame at Wake Forest
2. Notre Dame at Pittsburgh
3. Duke at Notre Dame
4. Clemson at Notre Dame
5. Louisville at Notre Dame
2021
1. Notre Dame at Florida State (Sept. 6/Labor Day)
2. Notre Dame at Virginia Tech
3. North Carolina at Notre Dame
4. Notre Dame at Virginia
5. Georgia Tech at Notre Dame
2022
1. Notre Dame at North Carolina
2. Notre Dame at Syracuse
3. Boston College at Notre Dame
4. Clemson at Notre Dame
2023
1. Notre Dame at North Carolina State
2. Notre Dame at Duke
3. Notre Dame at Louisville
4. Wake Forest at Notre Dame
5. Notre Dame at Clemson
6. Pittsburgh at Notre Dame
2024
1. Miami at Notre Dame
2. Notre Dame at Georgia Tech
3. Florida State at Notre Dame
4. Virginia at Notre Dame
2025
1. Notre Dame at Miami
2. North Carolina State at Notre Dame
3. Notre Dame at Boston College
4. Notre Dame at Pittsburgh
5. Syracuse at Notre Dame
* Designated home game for Syracuse
@ Designated Shamrock Series game for Notre Dame
Must-see TV
Notre Dame’s loss to Florida State on Saturday in Tallahassee, Fla., attracted more than 13 million viewers on ABC-TV, making it the most-watched college football game of the 2014 season to date.
It also now gives ABC/ESPN, the network that doesn’t have the Notre Dame contract, the eight most-viewed games involving Notre Dame since 2005. This one stands at No. 3 on that list, with 13,251,000 viewers and a 7.9 household rating.
It’s also the largest TV audience for an ABC/ESPN game in the month of October since records began in 1991 — also the year ND began its TV relationship with NBC.
Saturday’s game was also big on social media. The 539,000 tweets on Twitter, including one from LeBron James, were the most generated for a college football game this season.
Eric Hansen: (574) 235-6112
