Could an SEC team be backing out of home-home series with Notre Dame?

Notre Dame football, due to its independence, has the ability to schedule whoever it wants, with some marquee matchups for the 2026 season along with the future schedules as well.

However, like USC, it looks like another team might be backing out of its series with the Irish. On Thursday during SEC Media Days, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian was asked about the upcoming home-home series with Notre Dame set to start in 2028. His answer didn’t give much hope to the games actually being played.

Advertisement

Sarkisian said that “I don’t know about Notre Dame. We’ll see,” putting a good amount of doubt in the future series. It’s an odd statement to make, as recently the SEC put priority in scheduling the Irish for their non-conference portion of its slates. Starting in 2027, Notre Dame will face Auburn, Arkansas, and Alabama through 2030, meaning they’ll be plenty of future SEC matchups.

Hopefully Sarkisian’s comments don’t start the beginning of canceling the series, as the two teams haven’t faced off against each other since 2016, and Notre Dame holds a 9-3 series advantage against the Longhorns.