While the Michigan Wolverines and Notre Dame Fighting Irish each appear content to let their annual rivalry dissipate, that still doesn't mean the record-breaking 6.4 million viewers who tuned in for Saturday night's game actually agree with the recent announcement.
Despite featuring a bevy of Michigan turnovers and ill-timed gaffes by quarterback Denard Robinson, Saturday's game was reportedly the single largest draw in Notre Dame's primetime history on NBC according to the National Football Foundation:
NBC's Michigan-Notre Dame telecast drew an audience of 6.4 million, the Fighting Irish's largest-ever primetime audience on NBC.
— Football Foundation (@NFFNetwork) September 25, 2012
On a night when a number of top-flight games were also available across all networks in the same timeslot, it's quite remarkable that this game pulled in such a massive audience. Though it's extremely hard to imagine that NBC is thrilled to watch Notre Dame willingly drop a marquee draw like Michigan from its schedule in coming years, a lull in scheduling could theoretically drum up more interest when these two teams actually face off again.