Photo via USA Today
When Scott Stricklin said he was going to upgrade the Gator football program’s non conference schedule, he really meant business. We’ll have to wait awhile for this latest marquee battle to come to pass, but the Florida Gators will one day do battle with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on the football field.
The Gators will visit Notre Dame in South Bend in 2031– yes, ten years from now— while the Irish will make the return trip to Gainesville in 2032. Unless the teams meet in a bowl game between now and then, these will be the second and third ever meetings between the schools. Notre Dame won the only previous matchup, 39-28, in the 1992 Sugar Bowl.
Ah, but it gets even weirder. Florida has agreed to play at Notre Dame on November 15 of 2031– yes, the middle of November in northern Indiana, which is likely going to present the Gators with very cold conditions— and then the teams will fight the rematch less than ten months later on September 11th in Gainesville. Talk about a change of venue.
The addition of the Irish only bolsters an already loaded future non conference slate for Florida. The Gators already have home and home dates with Miami, NC State, Texas, Arizona State, Colorado, Utah and California on the docket spread out over the next decade. And of course, all of those matchups are on top of the already set annual rivalry game with FSU.
Now we just have to wait until then.
