The rivalry will end, Notre Dame has cancelled the series with the University of Michigan as a part of becoming a member of the ACC.

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick wrote a letter that was given to Michigan AD David Brandon about an hour before the game on Saturday and Brandon ‘put it in his pocket’ because he was focused on the game at hand.

Michigan and Notre Dame had played every year since 2002, but 2014 will be the last time in the foreseeable future that these two teams would meet. Swarbrick said when Notre Dame was accepted into the ACC that rivalries with Stanford, Navy and USC were the most important for the Irish and needed to be protected.

My question is, is this move because of the recent disappointment in Big Ten football and the higher levels being played in the Pac-12, is it a numbers game and Michigan lost or is this about recruiting?  Notre Dame already has a strong presence in the Midwest and East coast, so keeping the rivalry with the West coast teams would give them a presence out west for potential recruits.

As for Michigan this gives them a chance to do what Michigan State is doing and play teams like Eastern, Western and Central in the area or just schedule a game that they should win against a UMass or someone like that.  Either way, Michigan football will be fine without Notre Dame on the schedule and will continue hopefully to rebuild under Brady Hoke.

So what do you think fans, is this rivalry a bigger deal for Michigan than I am making it out to be or will the program not miss Notre Dame?  Let us know at @DSBloggers on Twitter or on Facebook or in the comments below to tell us what you, the fans, think.