Notre Dame to join ACC in non-football sports

ICHawk24

ICHawk24

Well-Known Member
Chicago Tribune and ESPN reporting. ESPN reporting that they'll play 5 football games against ACC teams annually.
 
There has been a great deal of speculation related to Notre Dame's future and whether or not they would join a conference in football. The recent rounds of college conference expansion saw pundits projection Notre Dame to the Big Ten, a league who extended them an invitation a decade ago that they turned down. The retooled Big 12 was interested in Notre Dame. Every league was interested in Notre Dame because of the television dollars they can bring in.

Notre Dame has insisted it wanted to maintain its football independence. With this move, it has done that as well as securing a future for its other sports as the Big East appears to be on its last legs, having lost most many of its marquee football names.

This move appears to have everything to do with Notre Dame's football scheduling concerns. With the college landscape changes, Notre Dame was looking at a landscape with fewer dance partners. If the Big Ten moves to a nine-game conference slate, something they originally approved, then scrapped after reaching a scheduling deal with the Pac 12 and subsequently seeing that deal fall apart this summer, you wonder if Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue will want to schedule Notre Dame each year. The scheduling concerns in November were also a big concern for the Irish.

The five games per year against ACC schools solves that problem and allows Notre Dame to keep an advantage it has always had; the ability to manage their football schedule, something teams in conferences do not get to do.

This move should also help Notre Dame's recruiting efforts in the southeast, which is the Fort Knox of high school football talent.

one final and significant caveat should be mentioned; the exit fees to leave the ACC may be going up to $50 million dollars.
 
Also, the Big Ten needs to stop scheduling Notre Dame in every sport. Period.

I think there was a decent chance this was going to happen in football. I believe Notre Dame's concern with Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue needing to drop them if the B1G goes to 9 game league schedule was a part of this. Mostly, they wanted to keep independence in football and this is the best of all worlds for them, because new playoff system won't require them to join a league.
 
Doesn't wisconsin have noter lame coming on to their schedule for a home & home in the near future? Or am I confused as usual?
 
So here is what ND's football schedule will look like going forward?

Navy
BC
MSU
Mich
USC
Stanford
Purdue
5 ACC teams

That's a pretty rigid 12-game slate. I'm wondering if they will break from one of their traditional rivals?

Edit: Wow, I obviously forgot that BC is in the ACC now. I guess that provides a little bit if flexibility, though not much.
 
Jim Delaney should order the BIG schools to cancel all games with ND.
 
The ACC is perfect for ND (small private schools on the East coast). The B1G is a terrible fit for ND. Jon, thanks for pointing out the increase ACC exit fees. This move probably stabilizes realignment at the BCS level.

I don't mind if B1G keeps scheduling them, where it helps each member school. If UM/MSU/PU want to play them in football, go right ahead.
 
JonDMiller said:
Also, the Big Ten needs to stop scheduling Notre Dame in every sport. Period.

I think there was a decent chance this was going to happen in football. I believe Notre Dame's concern with Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue needing to drop them if the B1G goes to 9 game league schedule was a part of this. Mostly, they wanted to keep independence in football and this is the best of all worlds for them, because new playoff system won't require them to join a league.
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Michigan, MSU, and Purdue have ZERO interest in dropping Notre Dame.
 
UM has already expressed interest in not playing ND every single year. PU will likely want to play them forever. MSU, I'm not so sure.
 
ICHawk24 said:
The ACC is perfect for ND (small private schools on the East coast). The B1G is a terrible fit for ND. Jon, thanks for pointing out the increase ACC exit fees. This move probably stabilizes realignment at the BCS level.
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???

The ACC has 4 private schools, 3 of which are in major metro areas, and 8 large public universities. I don't see how a small, Catholic school in rural Indiana fits in.
 
VA Tech will routinely pizz-pound nd in football. It will almost be fun to watch.
 
GhostofBTT said:
???

The ACC has 4 private schools, 3 of which are in major metro areas, and 8 large public universities. I don't see how a small, Catholic school in rural Indiana fits in.
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Well jNW plays them sometime in the next couple years. UM and MSU don't need to play ND. Purdue would probably join the ACC in order to keep playing them.
 
GhostofBTT said:
Michigan, MSU, and Purdue have ZERO interest in dropping Notre Dame.
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If the Big Ten goes to a 9 game conference slate, I strongly disagree. Michigan and Notre Dame are going to be taking a timeout coming up soon.

With a nine game conference slate, scheduling philosophies will change some. If that happens.
 
I don't see 9 game conference schedules happening unless all conferences do it, especially the SEC
 
ICHawk24 said:
The ACC is perfect for ND (small private schools on the East coast). The B1G is a terrible fit for ND. Jon, thanks for pointing out the increase ACC exit fees. This move probably stabilizes realignment at the BCS level.
Click to expand...

I disagree with the assertion that it stabilizes realignment. What I see this doing is setting in motion Notre Dame's full move to the ACC within a decade. With that, the ACC will look to expand to 16 (an even number) and that could set in motion another chain reaction, depending on who they go after.
 
The ACC is much more valuable for Notre Dame football in the long run. Why fight for the limited scraps in the Midwest when you can make inroads in the South where the best crops grow. Notre Dame can recruit anywhere, but not like they used to. This will give them more exposure in states south of Indiana.
 
This is correct and what everyone fails to comprehend. Delany tried to get the B1G to stop playing ND over a decade ago and Michigan told him to go to hell.

I'm a fan of Iowa, a fan of the B1G as well but I also see the writing on the wall. The B1G is a diminished league. It is done competing for National Championships, maybe Ohio St still can occasionally. That's what they are. They decided that other things mattered more. That's fine, that's ok, but lets not expect elite athletic status with such self limiting parameters and massive exterior challenges such as population shift and the propaganda machine of ESPiN and the SEC.
 
thejumper5 said:
I disagree with the assertion that it stabilizes realignment. What I see this doing is setting in motion Notre Dame's full move to the ACC within a decade. With that, the ACC will look to expand to 16 (an even number) and that could set in motion another chain reaction, depending on who they go after.
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That 16th spot is for Texas.
 
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