Notre Dame to host Boise State in 2025 season as Fighting Irish, Broncos will meet for first time

Notre Dame and Boise State will play each other in football for the first time in 2025, the schools announced Wednesday. The game, set for Oct. 4, 2025 at Notre Dame Stadium, will pit one of college football’s iconic brands against a perennially strong Group of Five program.

Notre Dame now has just one game left to fill on its 2025 slate, per FBSchedules.com. The home date with Boise State will mark the conclusion of a challenging four-week run. The Fighting Irish are set to host Texas A&M on Sept. 13 and Purdue on Sept. 20 before traveling to Arkansas on Sept. 27 leading up to the Oct. 4 showdown with Boise State.

It will mark Boise State’s first-ever game in the state of Indiana and the completion of a compelling nonconference slate for the Broncos. Boise State is scheduled to open the 2025 season at South Florida before hosting Eastern Washington in Week 2 and Sun Belt power Appalachian State on Sept. 27.

Both teams face unique paths to the College Football Playoff in 2024 and 2025 as the CFP expands to include 12 teams and a guaranteed spot for a Group of Five school. Since the Fighting Irish are an FBS independent, there is no automatic bid available to them via winning a conference title, which puts the onus on the program to stack victories against quality foes.

Boise State also faces a slim margin for error if it wishes to represent the Group of Five in the playoff. The potential payoff for winning at Notre Dame could be huge for the Broncos as they jockey to be the top G5 team in the final CFP Rankings.