Irish Chicken is on the menu Saturday night in Ann Arbor.
Here’s the recipe: Add five ACC games. Throw in a dash of USC, add a spice of Purdue, found only in Indiana. Bring to a boil and skim off any Maize and Blue.
There you have it — Irish Chicken.
“We have unbelievable rivalry games at Michigan,” Michigan coach Brady Hoke said last spring. “The Notre Dame, that rivalry, which they’re chickening out of … they’re still going to play Michigan State, they’ll play Purdue, they don’t want to play Michigan.”
Saturday night’s Michigan-Notre Dame game (8 p.m., ESPN), which ends its series in 2014, takes on an SEC flavor of trash talking and bruised feelings.
When the Irish opted to join the Atlantic Coast Conference as a full member for all sports except football, it had to agree to play five football games against ACC teams in order to retain its TV independence.
Someone had to go and the Irish decided that someone was Michigan.
Since then, the rhetoric has steadily increased.
Notre Dame’s monster defensive tackle Louis Nix III responded to Hoke in the offseason on Twitter.
“Chickened out? #MeatChicken will taste delicious Sept 7th. #GoIrish.”
Fast forward to this week. Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly: “I really haven’t seen it as one of those historic, traditional Notre Dame rivalries,” he said Monday. “I’ve seen it as just one of those great football games that Notre Dame has played.’’
The two Midwest powers have faced each other 40 times, and the series, which began in 1887, has been discontinued four times. The teams have played 29 of the last 35 seasons since 1987.
Kelly tried to defuse the emotion on Tuesday when he acknowledged it as a great and historic rivalry. Just not great and historic enough to continue.
Hoke said Tuesday he wants the series to continue. He won’t get his way. But Michigan can get the last word at the Big House.
The Wolverines, the home team, are giving 3.5. The last four games have been decided by seven or fewer, three times by four points.
Michigan 21-17.
South Carolina (+3) over GEORGIA:
Bottom line, it’s really a pick’em game so we will take the team (South Carolina) getting three points. Jadeveon Clowney makes two monster plays for Gamecocks.
Wake Forest (+3) over BC:
Demon Deacons played a week ago Thursday which gives underrated coach Jim Grobe too much time to prepare.
MICHIGAN ST. (-23.5) over S. Florida:
Can’t even consider picking the Bulls after they lost at home to FCS McNeese State, 53-21.
MIAMI (+3) over Florida:
Until Jeff Driskel proves he can have a big game against elite competition, the Gators can’t be considered an SEC championship-level team. RB Duke Johnson is the real deal for Miami.
ILLINOIS (+7.5) over Cincinnati:
The Bearcats are coming off an impressive 42-7 win over Purdue. But QB Muchie Legaux makes us nervous. He threw two picks in that game and has thrown 15 in his career.
BALL ST. (-7.5) over Army:
The Black Knights have to prove they can stop a team with a balanced offense, which Ball State has.
OHIO ST. (-28) over San Diego St.:
When’s the Michigan game?
Oregon (-22) over VIRGINIA:
Our only concern is that the Ducks have to travel cross country for a 3:30 p.m. Eastern kickoff. Don’t be surprised by a slow Oregon start but by the second half, the Ducks bust it open.
NORTHWESTERN (-12) over Syracuse:
Wait until the 11th hour before making this play. Northwestern QB Kain Colter suffered a concussion in last week’s win at Cal. He is day-to-day and he said he plans to play. If not, consider the Orange and the points.
OKLAHOMA (-20.5) over W. Virginia:
Until the Mountaineers grasp the concept of defense, we can’t pick em.
Texas (-7) over BYU:
The Cougars don’t have the personnel that Texas does.
Wash. St. (+15) over USC:
The Cougars gave Auburn fits on the road last week. The Trojans underachieved in a win at Hawaii.
Arizona (-10.5) over UNLV:
Arizona gets RB Ka’Deem Carey back from his one-game suspension.
STANFORD (-26.5) over San Jose St.:
The Post’s pick to win it all opens with a devastating display of power and execution.
BEST BETS:
Stanford, Northwestern, Oklahoma
LAST WEEK:
7-8 overall, 1-2 best bets