College Football

Does everyone at ESPN have a fake Notre Dame-Michigan memory?

Mark May and Skip Bayless have fond and completely manufactured memories of watching the Irish and Wolverines play.

By Steven Muma@akulawolf Sep 3, 2013, 2:20pm EDT

The Michigan-Notre Dame series is coming to an end after 2015, a fact that has led to plenty of reflection on the part of ESPN analysts. GameDay will be in Ann Arbor, Mich., this weekend for one of the last matchups between the Irish and Wolverines for the foreseeable future. It's a valuable game for ESPN, which may explain why its pundits are all of a sudden making up stories about it:

Mark May just said he watched Notre Dame-Michigan growing up. May was born in 1959. ND and UM did not play between 1943 and 1978.
— Sandlapper Spike (@SandlapperSpike) September 3, 2013

Skip Bayless jumped into the fray Tuesday, claiming all sorts of very wrong things about the series, as Deadspin outlines here. If the network is seriously trying to create a groundswell for keeping the game alive on an annual basis, maybe there's a better way to do it than creating blatantly false stories about a series that actually has gone interrupted on several occasions, most recently from 1999 to 2002.

The coaches of the two teams can't even agree on the relative importance of the game -- Brian Kelly considers it a significant contest, but says it's no rivalry; Brady Hoke feels differently.

The weekend's 39 best college football photos:

A look at the newly-renovated Husky Stadium. Otto Greule Jr
Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports
Christian Petersen/Getty Images
Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports
Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
Justin K. Aller/Getty Images
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Jeff Hanisch, USA TODAY Sports
Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly is a popular man. Mike Cashore, USA TODAY Sports
Paul Abell, USA TODAY Sports
Tim Heitman, USA TODAY Sports
Matthew Emmons, USA TODAY Sports
Dale Zanine, USA TODAY Sports
Streeter Lecka
Scott Sewell, USA TODAY Sports
Greg Bartram, USA TODAY Sports
Thomas Campbell, USA TODAY Sports
Scott Halleran
Brendan Maloney, USA TODAY Sports
Scott Olmos, USA TODAY Sports
Stephen Lam
Jim Brown, USA TODAY Sports
Jeremy Brevard, USA TODAY Sports
Scott Olmos, USA TODAY Sports
Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports
Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports
Rafael Suanes-USA TODAY Sports
Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports
Michael Chang/Getty Images
Streeter Lecka
Doug Pensinger/Getty Images
Vernon Adams celebrates Eastern Washington's stunning win over Oregon State Jamie Valdez, USA TODAY Sports
Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports