Washington adds Notre Dame home-and-home for 2031 and 2034 as it tries to secure bowl eligibility

Washington has scheduled a home-and-home series with Notre Dame. The Huskies will play at Notre Dame Stadium on Sept. 27, 2031, and the Irish will come to Husky Stadium on Nov. 11, 2034. The school announced the agreement Tuesday, Roundtable Sports reported.

The series covers Washington's nonconference Power Four requirement for both seasons. Notre Dame is an independent, but Roundtable Sports noted that College Football Playoff and conference guidelines count the Irish as a Power Four opponent. The Huskies had already set a similar matchup with Tennessee for 2029 and 2030, opening in Knoxville on Sept. 1, 2029, and finishing in Seattle on Sept. 7, 2030. According to the same report, Washington still has to drop a currently scheduled nonconference opponent in both 2027 and 2028 to meet the requirement in those years. Before this announcement, the only game Washington had scheduled that far out was a home date with San Jose State on Sept. 17, 2033.

The series history heavily favors Notre Dame. FBSchedules puts Notre Dame's all-time record against Washington at 8-0. The teams first played in 1948 and last met in 2009, when Notre Dame won in overtime during Steve Sarkisian's first season at Washington. FBSchedules also reported that Washington had no other announced nonconference games for 2031 or 2034, and that Notre Dame set up a future series with Illinois the week before.

What it means for Saturday

The agreement doesn't affect Washington's immediate goal. The Huskies are 5-4 and need one more win to become bowl eligible. Their next game is Saturday, Nov. 14, at Michigan State on BTN. Washington has had trouble finishing close games. It lost 28-25 to Penn State last week, and three of its four losses have been by four points or fewer, including 27-24 to Minnesota and 25-21 at USC. The Huskies are 2-4 in Big Ten play but 2-1 on the road. Both conference wins came away from home: 17-10 at Nebraska and 38-26 at Purdue.

Washington is favored on this site's board, which tracks 12 venues. On Novig, the Huskies are -163 on the moneyline and Michigan State is +156. On the spread, Washington is a 3.5-point favorite, priced at +104 on Novig. Michigan State +3.5 is -113 on Novig. The best number anywhere for the Spartans is +4 at -115 on BetRivers, so one venue is a half point off the consensus. Sportsbook hold runs from 3.5% to 6.3% on the moneyline and from 3.8% to 7.0% on the spread.

The total is 43.5. On Novig the over is -106 and the under is -111. Pinnacle has the best over price at 43 (-109), and BetMGM has the best under at 43.5 (-110). For comparison, five of Washington's six Big Ten games have finished above 43.5 combined points. The exception was the 17-10 win at Nebraska. In conference play, Washington's games have averaged 51 total points. Washington's offense has hit 24 points or more in four of its six league games, but the defense has given up 25 or more in each of its last four losses.