One potential scenario might include Notre Dame agreeing to enter the ACC fully on the condition that both Navy and Stanford also join. And herein lies the opportunity for Notre Dame and the ACC should one agree that joining a conference is now inevitable and that maintaining three major power conferences is preferable and would preserve more independence for Notre Dame than in a two mega-conference world: Notre Dame could influence the teams that enter with it. The 3-5-5 system means that each team plays the same three opponents yearly and five rotating opponents. Let’s look at what this scheduling system might mean to the Fighting Irish should they eventually join the ACC. As ACC commissioner Jim Phillips’s #1 priority is to get Notre Dame into the ACC, it is tough to believe that the switch to a 3-5-5 scheduling system was not at least run past Jack Swarbrick for his thoughts. The ACC has recently decided to go to a 3-5-5 scheduling system for football. He included in that deal (or agreed to include) that Notre Dame would have to join the ACC if it entered a conference before 2036, seemingly tilting the playing field in the direction of the ACC. He started them on this path as members for the Olympic sports, with five of the twelve football games scheduled by the ACC. But how might Notre Dame prevent a two mega-conference system while preserving as much independence and self-determination as possible?įirst, I start with the suspicion that Jack Swarbrick might not mind the Fighting Irish entering the ACC as full members. When performing at or near potential, a top four teams of Miami, under Cristobal, a resurgent Florida State, Clemson, and Notre Dame is nothing to sneeze at, and a conference that simply could not be ignored as the Big 12 or Pac 12 may be. The ACC has a true power program in Clemson and others that are certainly very capable of becoming so, including Miami and Florida State. By comparison, the Big 10 has won only one National Championship during that time. The ACC has won three of the last nine football National Championships. So, while the Big Ten is certainly the conference seen as the most likely landing spot for Notre Dame given the recent changes, there is an argument to be made for the benefits and viability of making the ACC its home.īuilding up the ACC into a heavyweight conference would be considerably easier than doing likewise in the Big 12 or Pac 12. Additionally, the ACC provides a much more fertile recruiting ground for football as the ACC territory from Virginia through the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida is very important and talent-rich. The ACC, in terms of academics, culture, and feel, is a much better fit for the Fighting Irish. The SEC is not a cultural or academic fit for Notre Dame, and the Big Ten just feels wrong on many levels. But what will it decide?Īs Notre Dame is currently a member of the ACC for Olympic sports and a partial member for football in that it plays five games in the ACC, the ACC is clearly the conference with which it is more closely aligned and the conference Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick thought preferable over the Big Ten or the SEC. I posit that Notre Dame is the only entity left with any power to stop the seemingly inevitable trek toward two mega-conference systems. In that case, Notre Dame will have little ability to simultaneously maintain both its football independence and relevance. However, suppose the Big 10 and SEC are successful in making themselves the Big 2 with all other conferences being largely irrelevant. Genuine, complete independence is a thing of the past, as 42% of Notre Dame’s football games are already being scheduled by the ACC with little to no say from Our Lady in the matter. Let’s start with the preface that when talking about Notre Dame football independence, one currently discusses the level of independence and not absolute independence.
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