Football
Western Michigan to face Notre Dame in football next season
David Goricki / The Detroit News
Western Michigan coach Bill Cubit is thrilled the Broncos will be the first team from the Mid-American Conference to play a football game against Notre Dame.
The Broncos will play the Fighting Irish next season -- Oct. 16, 2010 in South Bend, Ind.
"I'm really excited about it," Cubit said Thursday night. "We're the first team from the MAC to play Notre Dame, and it means a lot since we all know they're not going to just go out and play any old team.
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"It's great for the kids to be able to go into a storied place like that and play such an elite program. It's also going to be great for recruiting. When we speak to recruits and our players, we tell them, 'You will have the opportunity to play against anyone in the country,' and that now includes Notre Dame."
The Broncos defeated Iowa (2007) and Illinois (2008) the last two years. They lost at Florida State, 28-20, in 2006. Western Michigan will play at Michigan State on Nov. 7 in East Lansing.
WMU was set to play at Virginia Tech next season, but the game was moved to 2016 to make the Notre Dame game possible.
"Western Michigan University is extremely excited to announce this partnership with the University of Notre Dame," WMU athletic director Kathy Beauregard said. "The impact this game has on WMU is tremendous and Jim's (Virginia Tech athletic director Jim Weaver) understanding of that is due to his relationship with this university and is greatly appreciated."
Weaver was WMU athletic director in the '90s before moving on to Virginia Tech.
The Broncos played their season opener before more than 100,000 at Michigan Stadium in a loss to the Wolverines. They will play defending MAC champion Buffalo in Kalamazoo on Saturday.
Tough to buck
Some of Western Michigan's notable late-season games under Bill Cubit:
2006: Nov. 18, 28-20 loss at Florida State
2007: Nov. 17, 28-19 win at Iowa
2008: Nov. 8, 23-17 win over Illinois (at Ford Field)
2009: Nov. 7 at Michigan State
2010: Oct. 16 at Notre Dame
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