Why Notre Dame vs Indiana at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Needs to Happen

When it comes to neutral site games in college football, nobody holds a candle to Notre Dame.

The history of it goes back over a century, as Notre Dame was building itself into a national powerhouse and would go on the road to play some of the nation's biggest programs.

Games against the likes of Army were moved to larger settings like Yankee Stadium while when Notre Dame would host USC in the early days, the game would instead be played at Soldier Field in Chicago to allow for a significantly bigger crowd.

Notre Dame Continues Tradition Today in Shamrock Series

Notre Dame keeps that tradition up to this day with an almost-annual Shamrock Series game.

Essentially, what Notre Dame does is take a home game on the road, act as the host, but invade a usually iconic venue and plaster blue and gold all over the place.

It'll occur in Week 1 this year when Notre Dame "hosts" Wisconsin at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.

That game will feature Notre Dame against a Big Ten team that wears red in one of the most famous sports venues in the world.

However, there's a bigger and better historic Midwest sports venue that should play host to a Shamrock Series game - and it would feature a much more prolific opponent, as well.

Notre Dame Football at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

I write this in May, when engines are roaring at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in preparation of the 110th Indianapolis 500, which takes place May 24 this year.

I'll admit from the jump that I'm a sucker for all things Indy 500, but in watching practices so far this week, I can't help but think of how The Brickyard would serve as the ultimate host for a Shamrock Series game.

Obviously you couldn't simply throw the game in the middle of the Snake Pit at IMS, but putting a field down the frontstretch shouldn't be overly complicated.

OK, so you might have to cut out part of the pit wall for a bit, and you'd have to put a grass or turf playing field over the asphalt, but the good news is that you have quite a few engineers right in Gasoline Alley who have completed far more complicated of tasks.

Then the designers at Under Armour can have a blast coming up with a checkered flag-themed uniform or something, too.

Indiana Hoosiers - The Natural Opponent

If the Indianapolis Motor Speedway were to host a college football game, making Ohio State the top draw simply wouldn't make sense.

It has to be a team from Indiana, and with Curt Cignetti's Hoosiers fresh off a national championship victory, they look primed to stay towards the top of the college football world for years to come.

Notre Dame and Indiana are already slated for a home-and-home with each other in coming years, but why not have an extra game between potential top-five teams and play it in the biggest sports stadium one could possibly find?

I'm not usually one for forcing college football games off campus, but if Notre Dame is going to continue to do it like it has for over 100 years, why not play a powerhouse program in the biggest sports venue in the world - which just so happens to be in the home state of two of college football's best programs going?

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