Don’t worry, Notre Dame fans. Your Irish will get the chance to pay back mighty Michigan in, um, 2033.
The schools announced Saturday that they’ll meet again in 2033 in Ann Arbor and 2034 in South Bend. So, yeah, great. The world may even still be spinning on its axis then.
A once-brilliant rivalry is essentially dead, and that means Michigan gets to sit on Saturday’s 45-14 pounding of the Irish for a very long time.
Also: The Irish’s hopes of returning to the playoff are dead, their second loss of the season clearly revealing that they had no business being in the conversation in the first place. It’s a massive setback for Brian Kelly’s program.
On to the rest of the “Big 10” (where 10 actually means 10):
2. Numbers shame: The Michigan-Notre Dame stats were even more lopsided than the score. The rushing yardage differential — 303 to 47 — tells the tale best. The Wolverines, hardly a standout running team through their first seven games, destroyed the Irish on both lines of scrimmage. That’s painful proof that Kelly’s program exists below the “elite” line.
3. The Ohio State University:Look, the Buckeyes get their annoying “the” and all the respect because they’re just plain the best team in the country. Their performances on both sides of the ball in a 38-7 victory over Wisconsin hammered that reality home, not that anyone south of the Mason-Dixon Line will agree.
There are two teams that still could derail the Buckeyes. One is Penn State, which has a defense so good that the 8-0 Nittany Lions are a legit playoff contender. The other is Michigan; a visit to Ann Arbor awaits the Buckeyes in the regular-season finale, and one of these years Jim Harbaugh is finally going to scratch the win column in “The Game.”
Still, only Clemson has a more direct path to the playoff than OSU.
4. The Five-0: Ohio State, Penn State and Minnesota are the remaining unbeaten teams in the Big Ten, each at 8-0 overall and 5-0 in league play. Mark those calendars for PSU at Minnesota on Nov. 9 — coming off an open week for each team — and PSU at OSU on Nov. 23.
The Gophers have a two-game lead in the West division, but their remaining schedule is brutal: Penn State, at Iowa, at Northwestern, Wisconsin. Feels like a 2-2 finish at best, which could enable the Hawkeyes or Badgers to steal the West title.
5. I-L-L … I-N-I: Lovie Smith’s squad is 4-4 after a 24-6 win at Purdue. Next up for Illinois is Rutgers at home, which should be a cakewalk. A fifth “W” would leave three shots — at Michigan State, at Iowa and at home against shockingly bad Northwestern — at a bowl-clinching sixth win. Some of us predicted the Illini would go 6-6, so things are right on track.
6. Chris Klieman, your table is ready: No one is cooler than the 52-year-old first-year Kansas State coach, who moved up to the FBS level after winning four FCS national titles in fives years at North Dakota State. How do you just walk in and knock off superpower Oklahoma in Year 1? This guy’s the real Coach K.
7. Sooners later? Yes, one-loss Oklahoma still can make the playoff. But the Sooners are definitely rooting hard for any and all results that might keep the SEC from landing two teams in the four-team field.
8. Zip locks: Worst team in the country? It’s not complicated at all. It’s Akron, which lost 49-0 at Northern Illinois to fall to 8-0. The Zips have scored three — three! — points since September.
9. That’s what he said: “What’s your goal? If you were a senior, how would you want your teammates to play for you?”
That was Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald, challenging his players to finish strong after a 20-0 loss to Iowa at Ryan Field left them at 1-6.
10. And another thing: How ’bout them Hoosiers? They’re 6-2 after a 38-31 victory at Nebraska and — for the first time since way back in 1993 — have won three straight Big Ten games within the same season. Basketball school? Please.
