Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick announced this Wednesday that they are not expecting to sell out this week.

I waited until now to say anything because I figured, hey, there could still be a chance. With less than 24 hours until kickoff that chance seems to be gone.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will not play in front of a sold out home stadium for the first time since 1973. That was 273 consecutive home game sellouts, second longest active streak trailing only Nebraska.

The Fighting Irish try to spend most of their Novembers on the road due to the harsh winters off of Lake Michigan, but could not make that happen this year. As a result, neither this weeks game against Navy and next weeks game against Boston College are expected to host all 77,622 people that can fit in the stadium.

It is somewhat surprising that the streak ends with a game against two top-25 teams, Notre Dame (7-2) at #16 and Navy (7-1) at #23. This is the first time  these two rivals have both been ranked in a game against each other since 1978. 

Is this more weather and timing related, or are fans getting tired of Brian Kelly’s team despite multiple ten win seasons and a College Football Playoff trip last season?

Probably the weather, but fans are starting to get restless with Kelly’s boring offense and lack of development from his quarterbacks over the years.

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