It’s becoming very common with Notre Dame opponents to duck them, as USC has done it for a few years along with Indiana backing out of a scheduled home-and-home with the return of the Jeweled Shillelagh Trophy game.
There have been rumors that Texas could be opting out as well, and now you can add Purdue to that list. The Boilermakers head coach Barry Odom spoke this week on the potential for the rivalry to continue, and his comments made it seem like it could be coming to an end in the near future. “Geographically I know it makes fans happy but I have to do what’s best for Purdue. We have to make those decisions administratively.”
To me this sounds like the conversations have already started to exclude the Irish in future schedules. At the current
moment, the two teams will play each season through 2028, but following that, there isn’t a game that has been agreed upon. It’s an unfortunate norm that is happening across college football, teams opting to play very easy non-conference schedules to give themselves an easier route to make the College Football Playoff.
Let’s be real about Purdue, they are so far away from competing in the Big Ten, let alone for a CFP spot, that this doesn’t make any sense. The bar for the Boilers program is making a bowl game, and they can surely do that with Notre Dame on their schedule. Hopefully the intra-state rivalry continues past 2028.
Barry Odom in his second season as a head coach at Purdue says that the Notre Dame rivalry might be in jeopardy.
— CathVSConf☘️ (@CathVSConf) September 23, 2026
He was asked if he likes playing Notre Dame:
"Geographicaly I know it makes fans happy but I have to do what's best for purdue. We have to make those decisions… pic.twitter.com/bZZ6bbpBQg
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This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: Purdue head coach suggests the rivalry with Notre Dame could be ending
