Alabama and Notre Dame are scheduled to play a home-and-home series in 2028 and 2029. They will not, however, play in a makeshift nonconference game this season, according to Crimson Tide athletic director Greg Byrne.
The idea of Alabama and Notre Dame playing in Week 1 of the 2020 season was floated this past week by a member of the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic on the "Thom Abraham Show." The suggestion came after the Pac-12's move to cancel nonconference games this fall in response to growing concern over the COVID-19 pandemic, and among the matchups to be canceled as a result was USC's Sept. 5 game against Alabama in Arlington, Texas.
AL.com reports, instead, that Alabama could open the season against BYU should the Crimson Tide not move to a conference-only schedule for the 2020 season. BYU's opening at the beginning of the season also comes as a result of the Pac-12 announcing its conference-only plan for 2020 as the Cougars were set to begin the campaign against rival Utah in the "Holy War."
However, it is not yet known what the SEC will do regarding its upcoming schedules and the conference had no comment on its future plans when reached by CBS Sports. However, it is believed that a decision will be made by the end of July. The ACC and Big 12 have also not yet made official decisions for 2020. One of the sticking points with the ACC and SEC are the numerous cross-conference rivalry games, including Clemson-South Carolina, Kentucky-Louisville and Georgia-Georgia Tech.
Additionally, Notre Dame finds itself in a bit of a scheduling predicament as it is technically a football Independent but has a scheduling agreement with the ACC. The Fighting Irish have already had three games -- vs. Wisconsin, Stanford and USC -- canceled due to decisions from the Big Ten and Pac-12. Notre Dame is slated to play Wake Forest, Pitt, Duke, Clemson, Georgia Tech and Louisville out of the ACC and Arkansas from the SEC.
