Florida Cancels Notre Dame Series Due to SEC Schedule Expansion

Florida Cancels Notre Dame Series Due to SEC Schedule Expansion

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The University of Florida has canceled a planned home-and-home football series with Notre Dame originally set for the 2031 and 2032 seasons.

While the agreement was intended to feature a matchup in South Bend, Indiana, on Nov. 15, 2031, followed by a game in Gainesville the next year, the Gators are opting out of the matchups.

Following the cancellation, Notre Dame announced on Tuesday that it has scheduled a home-and-home series with Washington, which will take place in 2031 and 2034.

The decision to end the series stems from changes to the Southeastern Conference schedule. When Florida signed the deal with Notre Dame in 2021, the SEC was playing eight league games.

However, with the conference moving to nine-game conference slates beginning this season, Florida found it difficult to justify playing nine league games, a rivalry game against Florida State, and a game against a powerhouse like Notre Dame in back-to-back years. This difficulty remains despite the expansion of the College Football Playoff to 24 teams.

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To facilitate this change, the Florida-Notre Dame contract included a specific clause that allowed the Gators to exit the agreement without financial penalty if SEC schedules expanded to nine games.

The cancellation of the Notre Dame series reflects how Florida's nonconference scheduling is changing. While Notre Dame was initially added to strengthen those schedules, the Gators have since canceled home-and-home series with several other programs, including:

  • Arizona State
  • California
  • N.C. State

The two programs have only met once in history, a 1992 Sugar Bowl game where the Irish defeated the Gators 39-28.

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