Badgers and Notre Dame series possible

UW and Notre Dame discussing football series

By Jeff Potrykus of the Journal Sentinel

May. 26, 2009 4:30 p.m.

Madison - Wisconsin football fans longing for a nonconference game against a big-name program may soon get their wish.

UW athletic director Barry Alvarez said Tuesday during a radio interview on WTSO-AM (1070) in Madison that he is in talks with officials at Notre Dame.

The window being discussed, Alvarez said, is the 2012 through the 2015 season.

UW and Notre Dame have met in football 16 times, the last time coming in 1964.

Nine of the games have been played in Madison, four in South Bend, Ind., two in Milwaukee and one in Chicago.

Notre Dame leads the series, 8-6-2.

It is no secret Notre Dame’s program has struggled in recent seasons under coach Charlie Weis, who has a 29-21 record in four seasons. After posting a combined record of 19-6 in his first two seasons, Weis’ record in the last two seasons is just 10-15.

The Irish finished 7-6 last season. That included a 49-21 victory over Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl to snap a string of nine consecutive bowl losses.

Notre Dame last won a national championship in 1988, under Lou Holtz. Coincidentally, Alvarez was an assistant on that staff and two years later was named head coach at UW.

Nevertheless, Notre Dame’s name still carries a tremendous amount of prestige nationally. The Irish, who have an exclusive TV contract with NBC, have the No. 2 winning percentage in NCAA history (.736) behind Michigan (.738).