Michigan/ND are officially done: http://espn.go.com/college-foo...igan-wolverines
"By Matt Fortuna | ESPN.com
Michigan is the first casualty of Notre Dame's new arrangement with the ACC.
The Fighting Irish notified the Wolverines that they are exercising a three-year out in their series contract, meaning the last meeting between these two historic rivals will occur in 2014.
Through a Freedom of Information Act request, The Associated Press obtained a letter Tuesday from Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick to Michigan AD David Brandon, cancelling the games from 2015-17.
The schools had extended their contract in 2007, taking the series through the 2031 season. But it was on a three-year rolling basis, giving either side the chance to opt out with three years' notice.
Notre Dame and Michigan announced this summer that a two-year break is coming in the 2018 and 2019 campaigns, but that they intended to resume the series in the years following.
"The decision to cancel games in 2015-17 was Notre Dame's and not ours," Brandon said in a release. "We value our annual rivalry with Notre Dame but will have to see what the future holds for any continuation of the series. This cancellation presents new scheduling opportunities for our program and provides a chance to create some new rivalries."
Notre Dame announced Sept. 12 that it would be moving all of its sports, except football and hockey, from the Big East to the ACC, with the football team agreeing to play five games per year against ACC schools.
Swarbrick said then that he hoped the football scheduling agreement could begin in the 2014 season, and he stressed that Navy, Stanford and USC were the rivals he felt were most important for the Irish to keep on an annual basis.