Stones to toss in this pond:
1). The future of Notre Dame scheduling has nothing to do with Michigan nor any "fears". It's a combination of 90% business and 10% tradition. For Hoke to say what he said about Notre Dame ending the series is "beyond the planet Pluto" stupider than anything I've heard him say so far. It is SO stupid that I must believe that like non-sensical foreign political figures [like the Iranian or the North Korean] who spew nonsense for internal consumption political reasons, Hoke must believe that he has something to gain by this, and all that I can think of is a recruiting ploy. He must believe that by calling ND chicken, he will gain advantage in the living rooms of contested recruits. If so, this COULD work with some weak-minded kids and their families, but if so are they who we want anyway? Hoke's stupid remark can/will be turned back on him assuming that we win the ballgame. That is the only "important" thing in this story. In that Hoke is gambling that they win and it is probably a very bad gamble this year.
2). Notre Dame has a majority fixed schedule going into the future having nothing to do with Michigan. This has been gone over to Death but maybe needs a short re-saying. We have obligations for five ACC games. We badly need to maintain our high-value California presence with USC and Stanford. Of all of our historical rivals, both numbers and tradition says that Navy, MSU, and Purdue are the most substantive. My guess is that we and their athletic departments have grown so close over the years that at that level we are a bit like family. That is: thinking about dropping them is nearly UNthinkable. That then constitutes 10 of our 12 games. Our ACC commitment allows us to sort-of maintain our traditions with Pitt and BC even though only every three years. More importantly on the business side, it allows us presence in Florida. That then leaves Texas. We have two open schedule spots to play with. With one of those we need a Texas presence. The obvious choice would be home-and-home with Texas itself. Whatever goes on there, you can bet that Swarbrick is designing something. [Maybe even Oklahoma in Dallas].
That leaves one last game of wiggle room. Let's pretend that Texas or some equivalent power takes slot number 11 eventually. Our schedules then would include Texas, USC, Stanford, and one of the ACC powers [FSU, Clemson, VT, etc]. That's one third of the schedule in powerhouses. I'm not sure that I'd want to load up any further. Some softer "opening game" would seem strategically prudent. Whatever, Michigan doesn't fit the idea. ... on any level. I'd much rather leave "game 12" open for Swarbrick to play with so we could get another "always at home" opponent{s} to maintain the desired "7-5" pattern.
3). There is one and only one reason to continue to play Michigan. Recruiting Ohio and the Great Lakes. As long as Kelly remains at Notre Dame, we will be better than Michigan. We will have significantly greater over-all speed, significantly more dangerous over-all offense, and defense --- well, enough said there. Maybe we could use their kick return teams. Hoke is good, and Michigan will be good. But Kelly is great, and Notre Dame will be great. We are heading into an era where we will be not only better than Michigan, but better to the point where the constantly whacky things which go on in that game are not enough to keep us from winning anyway.
4). The national sports commentary about this is one of two things: a]. profoundly ignorant and single-digit IQ "thinking" by people who you'd never hire, or b]. stirring the ratings pot with the "hate Notre Dame" theme. Why any of us care even a little about this boggles me. These people are obviously not hurting Kelly or the Staff on the recruiting trail --- just look at their success. It also plays no role [obviously] on the field, where Kelly is about to reel off several double-digit win seasons and top ten finishes in a row. It's going to take us about three more years to extinguish the anti-ND lameness from the airways, but it WILL ultimately go. As the middle of the commentator community firmly swings to a "Notre Dame is Obviously good" position, those people will laugh at the anti-ND comments and begin statements with "Are you serious?"
Weighing out the balance pan, Notre Dame wins by dumping useless baggage like Michigan, playing instead some power in Texas, watching UofM get beaten in bowls while we compete and often win higher ones, and gradually out-recruit and out-player-develop them.
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