Notre Dame football rivalries — is Clemson the fiercest?

Rivalries. They’re straightforward for most conference teams, and usually involve a border war, in-state schools, and/or two of a league’s longstanding elites.

Michigan/Ohio State, Alabama/Auburn, Texas/Oklahoma, and Georgia/Florida quickly come to mind. 

That dynamic complicates evaluating rivalries for the independent Fighting Irish. 

At Notre Dame, rivalries evolve, they come and go based on many factors. A fierce rival one decade may not even be on the schedule the next. 

The core criteria to defining a rivalry typically include some combination of proximity, longevity, balance, big games, bad blood and heartbreaking upsets. 

Navy (94 games), Purdue (87) and Pittsburgh (72) provide plenty of longevity as Notre Dame opponents, but the Irish beat these three teams at a 75 percent clip, making it hard to call these modern-day rivalries. 

Games against Boston College — which is on Notre Dame’s 2022 schedule — have provided plenty of heartbreak, and Miami (Fla.) brought the bad blood.

But again, BC hasn’t beaten Notre Dame in eight tries and 14 years, and the Catholics vs. Convicts days are long ago. 

So using a blend of history, meaningful games and memorable moments, these are the four schools that stand out as Notre Dame’s top rivals (in no particular order), new and old. 

Obviously, this list is subjective and open for debate, so feel free to add, subtract and/or critique on the Lou Somogyi Board.  

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The old guard

MICHIGAN STATE

Start date: 1897

Total games: 79

Series: ND leads 49-29-1

Notes: A streaky series, Notre Dame beat the Spartans 13 of 14 times from 1969-82, including seven straight from 1976-82.

The Irish also won eight straight from 1987-94, before MSU responded with five straight wins from 1997-2001. 

In addition to alternating series dominance, this rivalry features many great games and epic moments.

The 1966 matchup between No. 2 MSU (9-0) and No. 1 Notre Dame (8-0) — a game still considered one of the greatest in college football history — ended in a 10-10 tie and helped to preserve a national championship season for the Irish. 

More recently, in 2005, unranked MSU knocked off the No. 10 Irish 44-41 in overtime at Notre Dame Stadium, then celebrated the upset by planting its team flag at midfield. 

Following an eight-year hiatus, this rivalry will renew at Notre Dame in 2026, and at MSU in 2027. 

As for balance, these two teams have each won eight of the last 16 games dating back to 2000. Ten of those contests were decided by one possession, and two went overtime. 

The Megaphone Trophy — which Notre Dame secured in 2017 — goes to the winner. 

Memories of Miami

CLEMSON

Start date: 1977

Total Games: Six

Series: Clemson leads 4-2-0

Notes: As a six-time College Football Playoff regular, a four-time national semifinalist and a two-time national champion since 2015, the Tigers program is where Notre Dame is trying to get, and that alone helps to fuel this fledgling but an increasingly fierce rivalry.

These two have played only six times in history, but four times since 2015, all with high stakes.

A matchup of two undefeated teams in 2015, No. 12 Clemson won a 24-22 thriller at home over No. 6 Notre Dame, and a rivalry was practically born overnight. 

They met again in a 2018 College Football Playoff semifinal when the No. 2 Tigers pasted No. 3 Notre Dame 30-3.

No. 4 Notre Dame turned the tables in November of 2020 when it beat the No. 1 Tigers 47-40 in double-overtime, snapping Clemson’s 36-game regular-season winning streak while providing the Irish their first conquest of a top-ranked team since 1993.

That epic win carried the Irish to the 2020 ACC regular-season championship as a full-time league member because of the pandemic and set up a rematch with Clemson in the ACC Championship Game.

The No. 3 Tigers exacted revenge and delivered No. 2 Notre Dame a 34-10 beat down to win their sixth straight ACC title game. 

Considering Notre Dame’s annual scheduling ties to the ACC, Clemson is as close to a conference rival as it gets and will continue to be for years to come. 

These two will meet for the fourth time in five seasons at Notre Dame Stadium on Nov. 5. 

And, considering they play four times from 2022 to 2028 — and seven times total from 2022 to 2037 — expect this rivalry to intensify in the coming years. 

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Checking the rivalry boxes

MICHIGAN 

Start date: 1887

Total Games: 44

Series:  Michigan leads 25-18-1

Notes: Longevity, proximity, bad blood, epic games, legendary players, all shrouded by dirty deeds, this rivalry has it all. 

As a fledgling program in 1887, Notre Dame lost its first eight games to Michigan.

The Irish finally beat the Wolverines for the first time in 1909, and unwittingly launched one of the longest and best rivalries in college football.

Since then, Notre Dame narrowly leads the series 18-17-1. 

These two programs have provided 24 national championships, 10 Heisman Trophy winners, 25 NFL Hall of Fame inductees, legendary coaches, and the bitterest and best rivalry in Notre Dame history.

Adding more fuel and fodder, this stop-and-go series was halted in 2019 following a 45-14 Irish win, five years after Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick negated a previous agreement to play annually through 2031 by infamously slipping Michigan AD Dave Brandon a contract cancellation note before the 2012 game.

The two are scheduled to play next at Michigan in 2033 and at Notre Dame in 2034.  

Rivalry revival

USC

Start date: 1926

Total Games: 92 

Series: Notre Dame leads 50-37-5

Notes: What was already regarded by many as Notre Dame’s fiercest rival will add a new chapter this season between proud programs with first-year skippers in a series that dates back 97 years. 

No coaching storylines this preseason drew more attention than when USC headman Lincoln Riley moved west from Oklahoma to USC and Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman landed the top Irish job when Brian Kelly left for LSU. 

Expect these young coaches to find quick success and lift this rivalry to heights not seen since the Bush Push era almost 20 years ago.

Need series star power? Notre Dame (520) and USC (516) rank first and second, respectively, in all-time NFL Draft picks, with plenty more to come.

Comparable to the Michigan State rivalry, Notre Dame’s longstanding series with USC has surprisingly been marked by lopsided streaks. 

After losing five straight games to the Trojans from 1978-82, Notre Dame responded with 11 straight victories from 1983-93.

Not to be outdone, USC won eight straight from 2002-09, and now, Notre Dame will take its four-game series winning streak to the L.A. Coliseum this November for a Thanksgiving Weekend game that could hold important postseason consequences for both programs.