If Mhver3 told me today was Tuesday, I'd fact check it.
Realignment Megathread (All The Moves)
- Thread starter ISUcyclones11
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Yeah. ND playing ACC teams was part of what the ACC got in return for ND not being a member in football but a member in other sports. That certainly wasn’t an ND request.
ND would just go back to scheduling Michigan, Michigan State, and pretty much anyone else they asked in football if they weren’t in the ACC partnership
I don't know about that. The Big Ten is already playing 9 league games and there is an SEC scheduling alliance coming. I'm not sure Michigan, MSU, Purdue, etc are going to want to lose that flexibility.
I actually feel like Notre Dame is closer to joining a conference than they've ever been even if the percentage isn't that great.
ND also played good SEC teams regularly when they were a true Independent. They played home and homes with Alabama, LSU, Ole Miss and Tennessee with the SEC teams playing up north in November. I bet they miss those days when Duke, NC State, Wake, etc. roll into town for a "Big" game. I have never understood why ND fans put up with that dumbing down of their schedules.
I think the reason ND set this up with the ACC was they were having issues filling out their schedule as more and more schools went to a 9 game conf. schedule. That means most only have 1 game with another P4 level school. On any given year if ND is fully independent, they would need to be 10+/- schools only P4 noncon every year. That has gotten difficult to do consistently.
I mean, of course. That doesn't mean anyone expects anything to come from it.
They played a home and away with aTm and Georgia recently. As well as Ohio State. They play USC every year. They play Auburn in 27. Texas, Clemson, Miami AND Auburn in 28. Texas, Alabama and Clemson in 29. Anybody that tells you that Notre Dame doesn't ever play anybody is a hater or just plain stupid.
You may be right. I’ll check that.
I thought their primary motivation was just to find a better league for their other sports.
I'm neither a hater, nor stupid. I like and respect ND football. I also know ND plays great home and homes. Perhaps, my examples were poor - since ACC games are really replacing their old B1G games with Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, etc. However, the lesser ACC games (instead of their old B1G Rivals) are dragging them down TOO.
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I think both can be true, both issues drove them to come up with the agreement.
It’s tough to tell really. In this article it appears that playing 5 ACC opponents was more of an acquiescence to the ACC as part of the deal. It doesn’t mention anything about Notre Dame struggling to find opponents. I can’t find any source that indicates that from back in 2013.
Notre Dame joining ACC
Notre Dame is moving to the Atlantic Coast Conference in every sport except football, where the Fighting Irish will maintain their status as an independent.
The squeeze is well underway, although the BIG pushing for a 24 team CFP is a misstep in that
If ND is unhappy with the ACC and ESPN, ND needs the BIG/Fox more than those two need ND.
It’s been clear ND’s fate is in the hands of the P2 and ESPN. If those parties align on wanting ND in the BIG, ND won’t have a choice
Don't think this is true. Notre Dame was struggling to schedule P5 teams after the first month of the season and wanted to maintain a solid SOS to make a strong case for a berth in the 4 team CFP. And if I recall correctly, having ND play those 5 games against ACC teams allowed the ACC to go back to ESPN and get a richer deal.
Even last month, the USC Athletic Director mentioned in an open letter to fans that playing difficult non-conference games late in the season was counter productive to USC being a playoff team. She didn't mention ND outright, but it was pretty clear she wants to move that game up to earlier in the season.
I just remember that being part of the discussion at the time. No idea if that was just media talk or if it was being part of their actual reasoning laid out.It’s tough to tell really. In this article it appears that playing 5 ACC opponents was more of an acquiescence to the ACC as part of the deal. It doesn’t mention anything about Notre Dame struggling to find opponents. I can’t find any source that indicates that from back in 2013.
Notre Dame joining ACC
Notre Dame is moving to the Atlantic Coast Conference in every sport except football, where the Fighting Irish will maintain their status as an independent.www.espn.com
That being said if they pull football from the ACC agreement I am sure the ACC will kick out the rest of their sports. Meaning they would have to move them back to the Big East I would guess or find another conference willing to take them in the same manor, but I dont know if the others would agree to that, or if that solves the issue they have with being left out of the playoff.
B12 considered Gonzaga as a non football member, would they consider the same for ND, or as a limited member in football like they have with the ACC? Not really sure, if it was me, I would tell them its everything or nothing, but that might not be the best plan either for the conference. I would guess even a partial membership in FB would be a valuable addition.
If you think about it, it’s kind of odd that the schools have 3 spots on the schedule each year that they can schedule whoever they want. Imagine if they did that in the NFL and you could choose to challenge yourself with a tough game like the Eagles or if you want you can go the opposite direction and schedule a weak opponent that isn’t even in the NFL at all.
Where I’m going with that is it seems obvious to me that eventually all of the scheduling will be handled at the conference level (probably 10 conference games and 2 crossover games against another conference).
When that happens it will probably make it challenging for ND to remain independent.
Although it is true that teams will bend over backwards to get a game against ND so it wouldn’t surprise me if they get some sort of special arrangement that makes it possible for them to still put together a decent schedule.
As long as Lincoln Riley is there that game against ND is in jeopardy. I think he wants to follow the Indiana playbook to getting into the playoffs.
And it’s kind of hard to blame him, for instance it seems likely that Texas would have made the playoffs if they had scheduled 3 bad teams non conference.
I know the counter argument for that is Miami, who wouldn’t have made the CFP if not for scheduling ND but it feels like a lot of teams with fan bases that won’t except anything less than a CFP bid are going to find it not worth the risk of scheduling a difficult team non-conference.
I thought ND/ACC just updated their FB scheduling so that ND would play FSU/Miami/Clemson more often? Like 2 of those teams every year?
They signed a deal directly with Clemson to play them every year for 12 years. It will count as one of their 5 ACC games but won't count for Clemson as an ACC game so that the ACC can go to 9 league games.
They're supposed to get FSU and Miami 'more often' as well.
I'm thinking this isn't really a step in that direction...
Big 12's Brett Yormark calls out Notre Dame's Pete Bevacqua
Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark took issue Tuesday with Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua's criticism this week of the ACC, calling his behavior "egregious."
