After the USC Trojans decided to cancel its season opener against Alabama – due to Coronavirus concerns – the Crimson Tide is trying to land a replacement or transition to a conference-only look. Greg Sankey, the Commissioner of the SEC, met with all 14 athletic directors in the conference on Monday to discuss the upcoming football season.
If Sankey and company decide on having a full year, one team that would serve as a highly exciting opponent for the Tide is Notre Dame.
Much like Alabama, the Fighting Irish boast a program of prestige, tradition and power, despite not belonging to a conference in football.
In its history of 11 national championships, Notre Dame has had some well-respected coaches, including Lou Holtz, Bob Davie, Tyrone Willingham and Charlie Weiss. Regardless of how people feel about Brian Kelly, he’s continued to make the school strong. Through 10 seasons (2010-present), the 58-year-old has compiled a 71-36 record with seven winning seasons.
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Four of those seven years witnessed the Fighting Irish win at least 10 games, especially in 2018 where it made it to the College Football Playoff.
The last time Kelly faced Nick Saban and Alabama was in the 2013 BCS National Championship Game.
Notre Dame got embarrassed in Miami (Fla.) by a score of 41-14, and everyone knows the loss stings Kelly to this moment. With the exceptions of 2010 and 2011, the Tide has accomplished one massive rating season-opening matchup under Saban.
According to Sports Media Watch, Alabama’s meeting with Florida State in 2017 (Seminoles were No. 3) pulled in a rating of 6.9 with 12.3 million views.
Even with the ratings and national media pumping up FSU, it was not much of a contest at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta as the Tide handled the Seminoles, 24-7.
The last two season openers for Alabama were very disappointing, in terms of ratings as Louisville (2018; 2.7 rating/4.5 million views) and Duke (2019; 2.8 rating/4.64 million views) were the lowest of the Saban era. It is the first game of a season that sets the tone for more than just coaches and players; it also pulls in the interest of fans – depending on the matchup.
Alabama’s season-opening ratings/views since 2010
-2012 vs. Michigan: 4.8 rating, 7.9 million views
-2013 vs. Virginia Tech: 3.0 rating, 5.17 million views
-2014 vs. West Virginia: 4.0 rating, 6.40 million views
-2015 vs. Wisconsin: 4.3 rating, 7.7 million views
-2016 vs. USC Trojans: 4.6 rating, 7.94 million views
-2017 vs. Florida State: 6.9 rating, 12.3 million views
-2018 vs. Louisville: 2.7 rating, 4.5 million views
-2019 vs. Duke: 2.8 rating, 4.64 million views
For Notre Dame, it enjoyed three years (2016, 2018-19) of a higher rating on season openers than Alabama. Kelly and the Fighting Irish crushed the Tide in both 2018 and 2019 with its contests against No. 14 Michigan and Louisville reaching 7.09 million and 5.60 million views, respectively. A common denominator in all of this is people want to see good football.
An Alabama-Notre Dame matchup could potentially be the highest rated game this year, should it be pursued. Three types of fans exist in today’s world: the Alabama supporters, those who want to see the Tide lose, and those who love a marquee brand of football.
Alabama and Notre Dame are two of the biggest brands out there, so one knows that fans and television networks would salivate over the matchup. On top of the obvious reasons, also consider what the Fighting Irish return on both sides of the ball.
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Ian Book is back for his senior season at quarterback.
He pushed Notre Dame to its highest scoring average offensively (36.8 ppg) in the Kelly era last year, while totaling 3,034 passing yards with 34 touchdowns to six interceptions.
It has to locate some weapons for him on the outside and in the backfield, but the Irish also return Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah at linebacker.
He led the defense in total tackles (80), tackles for loss (13.5) and sacks (5.5), to go along with four pass breakups, three quarterback hurries and two forced fumbles. Kyle Hamilton is back in the secondary after four interceptions (team-high) in 2019 and TaRiq Bracy had seven pass breakups as a sophomore.
Assuming the highest number is 10, Alabama’s average rating for season openers since 2010 is 4.1.
If it were to face Notre Dame, Saban and the Tide would crush that number and its rating from 2017.
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Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
