Alabama and Notre Dame last met on the gridiron in January 2013 in Miami, where the Crimson Tide stomped the Fighting Irish 42-14 in the BCS National Championship Game to claim the 2012 national championship. Its last meeting with Texas was in January 2010 in Pasadena, when it topped the Longhorns 37-21 to claim the 2009 national title.
Chances at redemption for the Fighting Irish and Longhorns could be on the way.
According to a report from the Tuscaloosa News, Alabama is working on home-and-home series with Notre Dame and Texas, although no specific years were mentioned. The report cited Crimson Tide athletic director Greg Byrne's desire to schedule these series, which would mark a departure from the norm for the program during the Nick Saban era (2007-present).
During that time period, the Crimson Tide have typically participated in Power Five out-of-conference matchups at neutral sites, including: two neutral site games vs. Florida State (2007, 2017), one with Clemson (2008), two with Virginia Tech (2009 and 2013), one with Michigan (2012), one with West Virginia (2014), one vs. Wisconsin (2015) and one against USC (2016). They play Louisville in Orlando to open the 2018 season, Duke in Atlanta in 2019 and Miami in Atlanta in 2021.
The only Power Five home-and-home series they've played during the Saban era was at Penn State (home in 2010 and on the road in 2011). Saban also took the Crimson Tide to Duke to finish up a previously-existing deal in 2010 -- one week after hosting the Nittany Lions.
As an independent, Notre Dame's schedule is a little more flexible. But due to the partnership with the ACC that includes between four and six games games each year, and rivalries with Stanford and USC, there still is some work to be done to hammer down exactly when these games will be played.
Texas has at least one Power Five out-of-conference matchup scheduled every year for the next decade, with the exception of 2025 and 2026.
Assuming it happens, home-and-home matchups between Alabama and two traditional college football powers would be phenomenal for the sport. Throw the title game meetings aside, all of these storied programs have national championship potential most seasons.
Notre Dame is 5-2 all-time vs. Alabama, and three of those games were in bowls. Texas holds a 7-1-1 all-time record against the Crimson Tide, but only three of those games occurred outside of the bowl structure. All three of those meetings were prior to the Great Depression.
