It won’t be long until Notre Dame is playing ACC football, too
ACC commish John Swofford with Father John Jenkins, president of Notre Dame. (AP photo)
The big news Wednesday was that Notre Dame will join the ACC in every league sport except football. The news someday soon will be that Notre Dame has decided to remove the qualifier from its new affiliation. The guess here is that, come 2016, the biggest independent in the history of independents will be playing conference football in a conference that needs a football jolt.
Speaking on a teleconference, Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said Wednesday: “Our intention is to remain independent.” Then this: “If something would change, and it would have to be a drastic change, we’re committed to the ACC.”
In college football, drastic change occurs every hour on the hour. Three years ago, who’d have believed a playoff grid would be in place? Three years from now, the Irish will have grasped that continuing independence is overrated. (Not incidentally, Notre Dame’s TV contract with NBC lapses in 2015.)
The advent of that playoff left the biggest name in college football — say what you will about Alabama, but the Tide has never had its own TV network — in a place no program could afford to be. It left Notre Dame without postseason assurances. Even before the playoff format was finalized, the SEC and the Big 12 had partnered to create a new Champions Bowl. Who out there was willing to commit to being the New Year’s date of the famous independent?
In yet another display of clever thinking, ACC commissioner John Swofford pursued the school that every conference would kill to get, but they approached Notre Dame at an angle. You can join our league and stay a football independent, he said, but you’ll play five regular-season games against our membership and — big key — you’ll be eligible for bowl selection as one of ours.
(There’s a caveat: Notre Dame can’t replace an ACC team in the Orange Bowl, though it could play an ACC team in the Orange Bowl. But Notre Dame could be chosen as the ACC rep in, say, the Chick-fil-A Bowl.)
In a statement released by Notre Dame, Irish football coach Brian Kelly said: “We have further solidified our future as an independent in college football, maintained our unique ability to schedule nationally and greatly improved our postseason bowl-game options.”
But if you’re going to play five games against one league every blessed season, why hold out as an independent? Why not go the full Monty? And here’s the other deft trick Swofford turned: He upped the buyout fee for anyone wishing to leave the ACC to $50 million. That’s up from $20 million, and that’s a cost no university can begin to pay.
This means Florida State and Clemson and Virginia Tech aren’t going anywhere. And the buyout, Swofford noted, “does apply to Notre Dame and goes into effect immediately.”
As of Wednesday, Notre Dame is tied to the ACC. If/when — and really, more “when” than “if” — the Irish realize that independence is to contemporary college football as the Pony Express is to communications, they have nowhere else to go.
At a media briefing in Chapel Hill, Swofford spoke of “a changing landscape in intercollegiate athletics” and then quoted Clemson president James Barker as having said, “What was best 20 years ago isn’t best today.” That applies to the ACC, which had previously balked at offering partial enrollment, and it definitely applies to Notre Dame.
Say the Irish choose, for no real reason, to remain a football loner: The ACC still benefits. Its best-in-the-business basketball profile — remember, Syracuse and Pittsburgh are on the way — is further burnished, and the league has also enhanced its reputation as the conference that cares most about academics. (Insert North Carolina joke here.) Better still, the league has played the greatest bit of catch-up ball since Frank Reich, himself an ACC product, engineered that epic Buffalo rally against the Houston Oilers.
With teams switching conferences at the drop of a $100 bill, it was once feared that the ACC would be raided and ruined. Turns out it hasn’t lost a school while poaching three from the now-dilapidated Big East. You wouldn’t have bet on John Swofford to emerge as the most dynamic force in 21st century intercollegiate athletics, but here he stands.
And for all who insist that Notre Dame is an outdated concept … no, it hasn’t won a national championship since the day Georgia hired Ray Goff as its head coach, but Notre Dame remains the biggest national name in a sport that still beats hardest to regional pulses. You won’t find many Bama or USC or Texas fans in the Bronx, but you’ll find Irish backers. (Hence the phrase “subway alumni.”)
There’s no conference that wouldn’t benefit from adding the biggest of brand names. John Swofford’s conference is the one that did. On the day he spoke of “a changing landscape,” he effected the biggest change.
By Mark Bradley
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276 comments Add your comment
SOUTHGADAWGG88
September 14th, 2012
7:55 am
ND should do well recruiting the South,signing some of these Deep South athletes,will have them relevant quickly.
RightAllTheTime
September 14th, 2012
9:25 am
Haters (out of jealousy) can’t help but hating. But the fact is, Swofford is smart and skilled. ND fits r the profile of ACC schools and every honest person knows this. And, you can bet your redneck baseball caps that they ACC will rise to the top. Hey, if the SEC did not want ND, fine, but don’t allow your ignorant fans to bring you down to the level of barking and breying. Mother of Mary, show some modicum of propriety in this your darkest hour.
No Seriously?? Huh?
September 14th, 2012
9:34 am
Rudy, Rudy, Rudy!!
UGA = Yawn
September 14th, 2012
11:13 am
RIGHT, you are correct. They do fit our profile. What is funny is that 99% of the posters in here talked about the move with regards to football only. But, that is just a small % of why the move was made or what the ramifications are for all involved. The ACC, as the ND AD stated, IS the best conference in the country. He did not say it is the best football conference. We, ACC, don’t state that. But the overall best conference, including academics, etc. IS and always will be the ACC!!
The Ohio State University
September 14th, 2012
2:08 pm
When did the A She She start playing football? Looking at records in BCS games I am not sure they have ever started.
lance manion
September 14th, 2012
2:15 pm
This is a great match for both the ACC and ND. The ACC along with adding ND is a collection of some of the top academic schools in the nation, and the even the world according to US News. Most of the naysayers who are fans of bigger, less prestigious academic colleges seem to resent the success of the ACC in all areas. None of us as fans of ACC schools would argue that the SEC is not a great football conference. What we would argue is that as a collection of some of the best academic schools in the country, and we are extermely competitive in all sports. For us, it more about education combined with athletics and we could not be more proud of our institutions. I supsect most of the haters are sidewalk fans of schools who do not understand college athletics.
p
September 14th, 2012
3:17 pm
Why join the ACC? Because the Big 10 was starting to get too tough for them. In the ACC, the can play the dreadful football teams of BC, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Wake, NC St, UNC, MD, Duke and GT. The ACC is a goldmine of opporunity and easy wins for Notre Dame.
lance manion
September 14th, 2012
3:43 pm
P, that is laughable. Which college did you attend?
Jonnylujack
September 14th, 2012
4:39 pm
Shake down the Thunder. Both Pitt and Syracuse are playing like true ACC teams this year. Looking good, looking good,looking good. ND will have not trouble in the ACC. It will be our Bitch.
Seriously?
September 14th, 2012
5:18 pm
lance manion
September 14th, 2012
2:15 pm
“This is a great match for both the ACC and ND. The ACC along with adding ND is a collection of some of the top academic schools in the nation, and the even the world according to US News. Most of the naysayers who are fans of bigger, less prestigious academic colleges seem to resent the success of the ACC in all areas. None of us as fans of ACC schools would argue that the SEC is not a great football conference. What we would argue is that as a collection of some of the best academic schools in the country, and we are extermely competitive in all sports. For us, it more about education combined with athletics and we could not be more proud of our institutions. I supsect most of the haters are sidewalk fans of schools who do not understand college athletics.”
All you needed to say was; “We suck at football, but we don’t really care anymore.”.
Cobb Dawg
September 14th, 2012
5:20 pm
What next, Texas to the Big East?
taylor
September 14th, 2012
5:46 pm
I would still say that Texas is the biggest college football program. Forbes ranked it the most valuable and Notre Dame came in at #2.
kevin
September 14th, 2012
6:09 pm
Love the Irish but I wish they could better than the lowly ACC
intellibird
September 14th, 2012
6:58 pm
Its great to have add another school with proud tradition to the academically superior ACC. You imbicile SEC fans that never even attended college may be interested to know that Notre Dame, in addition to having won 21 collegiate football championships (Alabama, 18), also has the geatest number of Heisman Trophy winners, and the “largest fan base” in the country.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/234824-notre-dame-fan-base-may-be-on-decline
and other numbers, see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_football_national_championships_in_NCAA_Division_I_FBS
The bigger question is why a good academic school, such as Vandy, would continue losing year after year in a conference whose chief concern is winning football games.
The Truth
September 14th, 2012
7:06 pm
Wow…nd and acc football….really exciting.
KJ
September 14th, 2012
7:06 pm
LOL @ people who still think conference affiliation has anything to do with academics.
Nick
September 14th, 2012
9:14 pm
It is funny how the Alabama fans thump their chests over the football team when the school sucks. How is you medical program? Uh, rednecks, you don’t have one-have to go to Al-Birmingham. How is your B-school? It sucks. School sucks, almost as bad as LSU. Geaux Tigers? Dumbasses, in French “go” is “allez”, not geaux. The SEC is nothing but a conference for trailer trash.
DawgNole
September 15th, 2012
1:55 pm
lance manion
September 14th, 2012
2:15 pm
None of us as fans of ACC schools would argue that the SEC is not a great football conference. What we would argue is that as a collection of some of the best academic schools in the country, and we are extermely competitive in all sports.
____________________
ALL sports? Uh, since when is football not a sport?
GT Fan
September 15th, 2012
2:37 pm
Huge get for the ACC. And I love the $50 million move by Swafford as well!
NOTRE DAME is a NATIONAL brand, like it or not. This will help all ACC schools in recruiting, and anyone out there (SEC fans included) that doesn’t think having ND travel TO your team’s stadium won’t be an instant sellout is crazy.
Notre Dame @ Clemson
Notre Dame @ VT
Notre Dame @ GT – we’ve seen that recently, and it was a huge deal (wasn’t College Game Day there that day??)
Notre Dame @ UNC, NCST, Wake, Duke
And any of you SEC fans that don’t think ND @ say Auburn, UGA, South Carolina, UF would create a fan frenzy are just kidding yourselves.
jerryg
September 15th, 2012
4:53 pm
No conference but the ACC (besides the Big East) would allow Notre Dame to join without football being included. Not the Big 10, not the Big 12, not the Pac 10, not the SEC, not one major conference would have agreed to such an arrangement.
Yankee
September 15th, 2012
6:14 pm
ND is no longer a national team. Worse, their program is damned since their head coach is responsible for the death of student whom he allowed to mount a scissor-lift in high winds. He should have been fired and indicted for negligent homicide.
Steve
September 16th, 2012
8:27 am
The ACC got the name brand and nothing else.. This makes about as much sense as anything else going on in the world of college football. It will be interesting to see what the landscape looks like in 5 years.
Steve
September 16th, 2012
8:30 am
Dawgnole… maybe you should learn to spell or at least use spellchecker.. since you are bragging about your fine academic institutions. bwahahahaha
Dan
September 16th, 2012
8:38 am
Nobody under the age of 60 is interested in Notre Dame. Interest in Notre Dame football is dying at the same rate as the Baby Boomers.
DawginNY
September 17th, 2012
12:21 am
I hope that Mark is right about ND deciding to give up independence in football in a few years, but I don’t understand the choice. The Big 10 makes much more sense geographically and they are quite a good academic conference as well. That’s no slap to the ACC; it’s just a question of fit.
DawgNole
September 17th, 2012
10:08 am
Steve
September 16th, 2012
8:30 am
Dawgnole… maybe you should learn to spell or at least use spellchecker.. since you are bragging about your fine academic institutions. bwahahahaha
_____________________
Looks like you’ve screwed up yet again, fool. I didn’t brag on anything, and I didn’t misspell anything. You must’ve been looking at someone else’s post.