Just saw that we're heading to South Bend for a late Wednesday night game this fall and it got me thinking about the old rivalry days. I remember when we used to open against teams that meant something, not these fabricated matchups the TV networks cook up. The 1998 season opener against the Irish at Camp Randall, that was real football. Ron Dayne running through that defense like they were standing still, 33 carries for 183 yards and we beat them 17-13. The student section was shaking the whole stadium, you could feel the ground tremble under the bleachers. Now we're going to Notre Dame Stadium on a Wednesday night like we're some MAC school playing for exposure. I understand the money is good and the TV slots are what they are, but back when Barry Alvarez was building this program, we earned our respect by beating teams like Ohio State and Michigan in the Big Ten, not by chasing prime time slots against independent schools. The whole conference realignment mess has turned our schdule into a circus. We used to have the Big Ten title game in Indianapolis under the lights, that was our stage. Now we're traveling to South Bend on a school night because the networks say so. The kids on this team probably do not even remember when the Wisconsin-Notre Dame series was a legitimate rivalry that meant something to both programs. They just see it as another paycheck game. I will be watching from my living room like always, but it will not feel the same as those Saturday afternoons when the band was playing and the crowd was singing Varsity and you knew you were watching something real.