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For the first time in nearly 100 years, Navy and Notre Dame will not play each other in football.
According to multiple reports, the annual meeting between the Irish and the Midshipmen — which dates back to 1927 — has been canceled.
Notre Dame joined the ACC for this upcoming college football season and the conference put safety restrictions in-place because of the coronavirus pandemic. One of which is that teams are allowed to play just one non-conference game, and that game has to be in the state of the ACC team.
Just my two cents: A Notre Dame season without Navy on the schedule is every bit as jarring as a Notre Dame season with a conference championship.
— Matt Fortuna (@Matt_Fortuna) August 6, 2020
This year’s Navy-Notre Dame game was originally scheduled to be played in Dublin, Ireland, but was moved to Annapolis. It would’ve been the first time in the 94-year history of the rivalry that the two teams played there.
It seems that ACC would not make an exception for Notre Dame traveling to Navy. It’s unclear if Navy refused to play at Notre Dame, or if the Mids were even asked.
The Irish have opted to play Western Michigan at home on Sept. 19 for their one non-conference match-up.
"The loss of the Notre Dame-Navy rivalry ... is one of the many aspects of this that are going to be a little disappointing."@Chip_Patterson shares his instant reaction to the ACC schedule release ⬇ pic.twitter.com/ut5ntnmI8E
— CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) August 6, 2020
The cancellation of the Navy-Notre Dame means that the longest uninterrupted intersectional rivalry in college football is coming to an end. While Notre Dame owns a dominant 77-13-1 all-time record in the series, the game means a great deal to both institutions for the history it represents. Notre Dame went through extreme difficulties during World War II, but the Navy provided help by making the school a training center, which brought financial assistance to the university.
Navy now has two open dates on its 2020 schedule. Along with the Notre Dame cancellation, the Mids’ game against Lafayette was scrapped after the Patriot League suspended its football season.
On Wednesday, the American Athletic Conference announced that it would play eight regular season games in football and allow its members to schedule up to four non-conference games.