In case you missed it, Nick Saban said he would like to see the Crimson Tide schedule a game with the Irish. While the thought of seeing two storied programs such as Notre Dame and Alabama was intriguing, Notre Dame’s John Heisler was quick to comment that such a game would be almost impossible to schedule.
Beginning in 2011, Notre Dame, an independent, has agreed to play three Big East teams per year, a request that was made when Miami and Virginia left the conference in limbo by jumping to the ACC.
“Those commitments will give us more home-and-home games than we know what to do with,” Heisler said. “It doesn’t have anything to do with (not wanting to play) Alabama.”
“Unless something changes, it would be pretty tough to do,” said Heisler, who added he wasn’t sure when the Big East agreement would end.
On one hand, not seeing a potential Notre Dame-Alabama matchup in favor of seeing Notre Dame play the likes of South Florida, Syracuse, or UConn is pretty disappointing. Before we crucify Kevin White for his scheduling habits though, the commitment with the Big East insures Notre Dame keeps its Big East bowl tie ins.
Notre Dame’s schedules in general have been one of the areas people point to most frequently when criticizing Kevin White. Not the quality of the opponents, but rather the order in which the games are played. In 2005, Notre Dame had one home game among its first five contests of the year. This year the Irish will be away from home for four of its first six games.
Oh well, like I said the other day, even if Notre Dame and Alabama were to play, Saban would likely be on his second or third job by then. Alabama probably would have another 2-3 national titles per season by then as well.
That would be a game that would get an incredible amount of press and media attention. Maybe it will happen in years to come when the conference regulations change. Both teams have a storied tradition in college football history.