Iowa State is one of three BCS teams within a 500-mile range of Notre Dame that the Fighting Irish have never played in football. The echoes have never been awakened at Clyde Williams Field or Jack Trice Stadium. The other two teams are Kentucky and Louisville, and the latter has only been on the BCS or BCS-equivalent level for a decade.
As a matter of fact, the “never played ND” group of BCS teams has a whole bunch of Little Brothers in it: Arkansas, Auburn, Iowa State, Kansas State, Kentucky, Louisville, Mississippi State, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest. (All of these except Louisville, Texas Tech, and Wake Forest are land-grant universities.) See Page 164 of the media guide.
Iowa last played Notre Dame in 1968. They were also scheduled to play the Saturday after JFK was assassinated in 1963. Minnesota last played ND in 1938, but they have at least played.
Whether it’s by circumstance of scheduling or lack of initiative, even when the Cyclones, Wildcats, or Cowboys were really bad, they weren’t bad enough to be a body bag for the Irish.
The only way this is likely to change is if Conferencepocalypse III somehow resulted in Notre Dame joining the Big 12. (Ha ha! Good one!)
UPDATE: Since this blog post was made, as part of playing five ACC teams a year, ND has played Louisville (2014), Wake (2015), and VT (2016).