Notre Dame, Michigan game breaks rating record for NBC

While the Michigan Wolverines and Notre Dame Fighting Irish each appear content to let their annual rivalry dissipate, that still doesn't mean the record-breaking 6.4 million viewers who tuned in for Saturday night's game actually agree with the recent announcement.

Despite featuring a bevy of Michigan turnovers and ill-timed gaffes by quarterback Denard Robinson, Saturday's game was reportedly the single largest draw in Notre Dame's primetime history on NBC according to the National Football Foundation:

NBC's Michigan-Notre Dame telecast drew an audience of 6.4 million, the Fighting Irish's largest-ever primetime audience on NBC.

— Football Foundation (@NFFNetwork) September 25, 2012

On a night when a number of top-flight games were also available across all networks in the same timeslot, it's quite remarkable that this game pulled in such a massive audience. Though it's extremely hard to imagine that NBC is thrilled to watch Notre Dame willingly drop a marquee draw like Michigan from its schedule in coming years, a lull in scheduling could theoretically drum up more interest when these two teams actually face off again.

This story originally appeared on SB Nation Detroit.