Notre Dame and Clemson to square off for the next 12 years. Here are the deeper implications of what this contract represents.

Notre Dame and Clemson already know each other pretty well in football. That relationship will become even more familiar in the future after the two college football powers announced a 12-year home-and-home scheduling agreement on Tuesday that will pit them against each other annually from 2027 through 2038.

Notre Dame, which remains fiercely independent in football, plays five ACC opponents each fall in a scheduling arrangement that dates to 2014.