Michigan vs Notre Dame: 5 best games in the history of the rivalry

Here’s a look at the top five games in recent memory in the rivalry between the Michigan Wolverines and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

For the first time since 2014, the Michigan Wolverines and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, two of the winningest programs in college football history, will renew their rivalry this Saturday night in South Bend. And what an interesting rivalry it’s been.

When fans think of college football’s biggest rivalries, Michigan vs. Notre Dame is never going to top the list. They’ve only played one another 42 times, most of which have come over the last four decades, and it’s not even the biggest rivalry for either team, what with the Wolverines having “The Game” with Ohio State and the Irish playing their yearly matchup with USC. And yet when this game gets taken off the schedule, it feels like there’s something missing.

Perhaps it’s the fact that the history between these two programs dates all the way back to 1887 when Michigan, who had started their football program eight years earlier, essentially taught Notre Dame the sport just before playing their first game against one another, which caused football to become very popular on the South Bend campus. That’s right. Notre Dame has Michigan to thank for football. The Wolverines won that first game 8-0 and won the first eight games over the next two decades before Notre Dame finally broke the streak in 1909.

Following the ND victory in 1909, the two teams wouldn’t play each other again for more than 30 years. The two teams exchanged victories in 1942 and 1943 before taking another lengthy hiatus with the rivalry resuming in 1978. Since then, these two teams have battled it out in some of the most entertaining games in the sport’s history. Perhaps it’s seeing two iconic programs on the field with one another that makes this rivalry so special. After all, the two teams have combined for more than 1,829 wins, 22 national championships and have two of the four highest winning percentages in college football history.

Michigan leads the all-time series 24-17-1, which does include Notre Dame’s victory in 2012 which later had to be vacated due to NCAA sanctions. Here’s a look at the five best games from the Michigan vs. Notre Dame rivalry.