ND attempted to join the B10 during the 30s and were blocked by UM due to anti catholic sentiment. It’s why even after all those years, ND chose the ACC for all other sports. Edit: I know ND Hockey is in the B10. This was a move of necessity for the program because the ACC didn’t support Hockey at the time.
Hm, 100 years ago and they will still pull that card? They are soft if they don’t join a real conference, and after the big ten additions last year, there’s no reason they wouldn’t allow them in.
@@Mich-jk2ze yeah, you don't understand. Michigan blocked them from playing AND didn't allow the other big ten schools to schedule them. Notre Dame was then unable to schedule anyone nearby. Then Navy offered to play them, essentially saving the program, and they still play to this day. That's why they historically play teams from all over the country, local teams refused to schedule them for decades because of Michigan. Their independence is a core identity to Notre Dame and they've always scheduled extremely tough. You kids who have made up this idea that they schedule all cupcakes is completely nuts. Educate yourself. Garbage realignment has hurt their ability to schedule as tough as they'd like to in recent years because teams they used to schedule don't have room anymore for them. Not their fault
@@Mich-jk2zeallow them? Hahaha u know how many times in the 90s and countless other times they were courted by everyone. But being who they are they don’t need a conference and will never need one. With nil they now have an actual shot in the modern area if anything they need a conference less then ever
Fielding yost of Michigan was prejudice against Catholics and boycotted them joining the big 10 and even playing them. They had to no choice but travel the country. And now they have historical rivalries they are not going to give up. Did you know they will never stop playing navy because the navy saved the school during world war 2? Did you know that SEC schools boycotted hosting ND in the 50s because they had black players? Most critics are simply ignorant of the historical facts around NDs independence
ND tried to get into the Western C9nference then Big10 since-1908. Yost, the Cisler, plus Paterno and Hayes all prevented ND from not only joining the Big10, but any conference.
No, cherry picking the Joe Paterno quote when what he said was they had their chance. All of the big ten, including Penn State, signed off on the original offer. That Joe Paterno quote was a decade afterwards. Most of the big 10 more Catholic than the nation. Maybe a few places, like Indiana or Iowa, but all the big states Catholic. Big states of Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Besides the USC and UCLA media market is Catholic.
@@tmcatee4810 Except they're not independent. They rely on the Atlantic Coast Conference for everything but ice hockey. But you Holier Than Thou'ers keep up the narrative lie all you want. Whatever makes you feel better. LOL!!!!
@@sheldonpegram8421 but do lose money if they join. I dont think they should have to should join. if they won the conference game this year they wouldve played the same amount of games which some people complained about. Other teams getting money from your big games is dumb as well.
they tried at least 3 times to enter the big 10 and were blocked each time, want to say during the time of knute, ara, and holtz is when it happened. But now... what incentive to join one? They have the NBC contract a few more years, their recruiting class rank is on the rise, they are known around the globe, and would lose money being in a conference.
That was in 1926. Some things have changed since then, you might say. If ND expects to be contenders in an expanding playoff era, they will eventually have to drop the princess routine and join a conference for future consideration. The same standard that every other team must meet will be imposed upon them.
@@gouldingsteve LOL they didnt get a bye week because of them being an independent, how exactly did they get an unfair advantage? Both ND and Ohio state have played 15 games, they are top 10 in recruiting, still have the nbc deal, their is no benefit to them joining a conference.
They already have the same standard as every other team. Any team could be independent if they want to or are financially able to, but almost no one else can. Case and point BYU. They thought they could do what ND did but weren’t successful and joined the big 12 at their first chance
@@gouldingsteve try again it's called you implied something, they had to do more than a conference champion just to get in but you implied they didn't. if they aren't at the same standard they must have and advantage otherwise why try to force them into a conference
When Notre Dame beat Michigan for the first time in the series, Fielding Yost told everyone in the Big Ten, then the Western Conference, to not play Notre Dame. During rhe Rockne era, the Irish tried to join the conference on multiple occasions. Every time, being denied by Michigan. After the final attempt, Notre Dame decided to embrace being the "national school." That took them out west to face USC and east to take on Army. Notre Dame is not going to join a conference because they don't have to. This year and the run they're on proves that. The Irish have $20 million all to themselves and don't have to share it with anyone, unlike Ohio State where they have to share it with 17 other teams.
Stay independent obviously. It doesn’t really matter anymore. They made the natty as a 7 seed, so obviously they’re legit. I had a problem in 2012 because everyone knew their schedule was nowhere near UGA or Florida and they didnt belong with Bama. Now, they have to win 4 tough games to win it all. Seems fair to me.
Fair enough don’t agree with the 2012 schedule take they beat enough ranked teams and defense was historic before running into that all time saban team
In 2012 they had a pretty strong schedule. They beat 4 top 20 teams and 2 top 10 teams that year, and the only team on their schedule that isn't currently in the ACC, SEC, or Big 10 was Navy. I don't think you can really say it was a very weak schedule. They didn't play an SEC team that year and the SEC in that era was just way above the other conferences, but they played as hard a schedule as anyone outside the SEC.
I also want to say, of not for the Manti Teo fake girlfriend situation that the whole team knew about and were keeping secret, and that was obviously fucking with their best player, I think there's a good chance that same was competitive and ND could even have won. I don't think they showed up because that craziness was going on but none of us knew.
Started in 1899, Indiana and Iowa sent delegates to Big Ten meeting and Notre Dame got invited by sending no delegates to represent them! Indiana and Iowa got granted for the membership and Big Ten accepted them while Notre Dame got left behind ! In the mid 20’s that Rockne wanted to join and Michigan’s Fielding Yost voted a block to it while prejudiced over anti-Catholic views back in the day! The rest was history and same thing happened when Penn State joined as 11th team while trying to get the even number of teams in the conference back in early 90’s!
@@PPA625 - ND is one of the biggest brands in all of sport let alone CFB, and they take pride in being independent. ESPN may talk junk, but they can't wait to have them on their network because ND is ratings gold. I cannot imagine why they would fully join a conference.
To be fair the only programs who'd benefit are OSU, UM and PSU in the north and Bama, Georgia and LSU in the south. The OSU and UM ARE the big 10. PSU could do it and if Alabama, Georgia and LSU didnt have Vandy bringing their conference GPA up they'd probably have to stop pretending to be universities lol
I love how no one cares that they are independent until they are winning. Them being a big time program that is also independent makes ND and college football unique. People need to stop hating on the successful formulas of others when it doesn't benefit them.
As a Bama fan, I've been thinking about it for years but I think it would be nice for us to go Independent regardless of seeding. I would be mad too if I shared my check to somebody in my conference I despise or hate.
Notre Dame has always been an independent school for my entire life and always a topic of Football news why the heck would they want to change that? Jealousy is the story behind all that is going on now over not having to split that $20,000,000 f .or the playoffs with a conference and lesser teams
Notre Dame’s independence from the conference system has only been good for the program up until this point. The new playoff system needs to entirely forget conferences altogether. We saw this year that structuring the tournament around conferences doesn’t work because most conferences don’t even have a single team worth putting on that bracket. If the BIG 10 and SEC are demanding guaranteed tickets their cries should go unheard. The point of the playoff is to have the best of the best in college football, if you want everything that comes with the CFP you have to earn it on the field. Notre Dame has done that and this season proves that they’re better off without selling out to the BIG10 or anyone else.
I agree, Conference Championships and Conference Refs need to go immediately. NCAA needs to step up and utilize a national ref system instead of the tilted conference ref system.
My problem is that ND can play all regular season cupcakes and get into the playoff just because of their brand. Joining a conference is the fairest thing to do.
“Just as the Universities of Michigan or Wisconsin or Illinois have core identities as the flagship institutions of their states, so Notre Dame has a core identity, and at that core are these characteristics-Catholic, private, independent,” -Father “Monk” Malloy, former president of the University of Notre Dame
I hope they don't join. I love CFB for all the interesting quirks it has, including Notre Dame as an Independent. I miss the times when more schools were independent.
Notre Dame does not need to be in one. Independence is at the core of Notre Dames identity in a way that isnt the case for other historical independents. They've also been blocked from joining the big ten several times, it's the root of their rivalry with Michigan. If their current (totally garbage) fb scheduling agreement and non football membership with the ACC was simply with the big ten instead, it would be perfect
Exactly. No one would be crying about this if they had football scheduling agreements and parked basketball/Olympic sports with the B1G instead of the garbage ACC.
@@mfahy0718 THANK YOU FOR ACKNOWLEDGING THAT NOTRE LAME IS IN THE ACC. The only point I was trying to make. Now, please, continue with your delusional selves.
You glossed over the MAIN reason Notre Dame first became an Independent: University of Michigan taught Notre Dame how to play football back in 1887. Through the years (off and on) they played eight times with Michigan winning all. When Notre Dame first beat the Wolverines, coached by Fielding Yost on November 6, 1909 by a score of 11-3, Yost outright petitioned to ban Notre Dame from ever joining the Western Conference (now the BIG 10). As he had so much power in the BIG the committee banned the Irish, which meant Notre Dame had to look for other teams to play. The major reason the Notre Dame/Michigan rivalry/hatred exists to this day. This, of course, famously led to Knute Rockne acquiescing to his wife's desire to go to California to vacation with her friend (who was married to USC's Athletic Director) because the midwest winters were so cold. Rockne took the opportunity and boarded a train with his wife and his team and they went west to play USC, creating the greatest intersectional rivalry in college football. The NBC TV deal is for broadcasting Notre Dame HOME games. This is why you see their games on ABC, CBS and NBC, because those are all AWAY games. Lastly, for the Indiana first round game this year, played in Notre Dame Stadium, ESPN has all the TV rights for the college football playoffs, which is why it was broadcast on ABC/ESPN. The first time another network's cameras have been inside Notre Dame Stadium since 1989. It makes no sense for Notre Dame to join a conference
Because they get to keep their playoff money for themselves, and not sharing it with these other teams. Now they are butthurt because ND is making more than they are.
I'll give you 45 million reasons why they shouldn't join a conference just since the opening round of the CFP this year. No winning split with Rutgers, Kentucky Arkansas, Purdue or any other pile of deadweight that makes up the half to 2/3 of all conferences.
Alabama watched their conference championship game from home and still got into two BCS four team playoffs. The SEC has been regularly scheduling teams like Mercer every year to fill out their 13 game schedule. I could go on but if you are an Irish hater you'll always make reasons to be so.
As long as there is a financial incentive for Notre Dame to remain independent, they should. If there's a compelling financial incentive to join a conference, they should. It's that simple. It's always been about the money.
Murray Sperber's book Shake Down the Thunder places principal responsibility for the Big Ten blackballing and boycotting of Notre Dame on Yost. It also claims this was motivated by anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant prejudice common in the early 20th century, though John Kyrk's book Natural Enemies points out that there was a bitter feud between Yost and Knute Rockne, head coach of the Notre Dame football team.
i don't think it's an issue, but i'm not a college football nerd or something so i get confused at times. I believe BYU was independent before joining the big 12.
Every team can also leave a conference. Knowbody is forcing them to stay in their conference. I will never understand why schools like LSU and Alabama. Just dont leave they are big enough schools with large fan bases that will follow, then create hour own media contracts and they would be in the same position as ND
They won't get the same media contract money that ND gets. That's why they can remain independent AND financially viable. ND is the only school that can carry a nationwide NETWORK tv contract on their own. Alabama vs LSU gets less eyeballs on NY, LA, or Chicago TV than Notre Dame vs anybody.
most of their non-football programs are in the ACC, you think ND's women's basketball is going to get into the final four by being independent, no, they get there by competing in the ACC, in Football they don't need a conference, and the most important games are Rivalry games, and teams try to find space to try to get a home and home match agreement with ND, but what does the SEC do for Non-Conference, play teams from The Sun Belt Conference that is below a group of 5 conference, tell why was it necessary for Alabama to play HCBU school Mercer, ND's future schedule if you remove the ACC, while have Texas A&M, Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan in future games within the next 5 years. I'd say stay salty if you still hate them, and I see conferences as over rated, Texas got in to the CFP but which big teams did they beat to get in, they didn't play Bama, Ole Miss, or South Carolina, they played UGA twice, and lost both times, what major opponent did Indiana beat to get in, sharing your playoff check with a team that is the conferences whipping, who will never make the CFP but collects that bonus is good thing for a university like Rutgers, and Maryland in the big ten, and Vandervilt, but not a great thing for OSU and PSU who collects 28 million for making it to the semi-finals, and their collective cut of the check is....less than 2 million after you cut it 16 ways, ND gets 14 million, and keep 14 million, now independence doesn't look so bad after all.
You should probably frame your arguments better. There used to be a lot more independent teams. I'd forgotten this and stumbled onto it a few weeks ago when I was looking up old ND win-loss records. Anyway, Penn State, Miami, even Florida State were independent up until the 1980s and 90s. You should ask "Why did they give up their independence and join conferences?" When the answer is "They needed money," then you can pivot to the TV contracts for why ND could keep their independent status. When you need money for salaries, facilities, scholarships, and you're not getting it from ticket sales and alumni donations, then joining a conference and getting a share of the pie seems like a good thing. Schools did not join conferences in order to have standardized football schedules. I imagine they played schools in a general "bus-travelling" region, and only ventured further out when trains and planes got more reliable. Even now a lot of SEC schools don't schedule any teams north of Missouri, Tennessee, and Kentucky. My point is lots of schools started out independent. The question should be "Why aren't they anymore?" and "Why is ND almost the last one?"
@LovelyCobra-fv6pp I'd understand that viewpoint. I just wish more people knew the history. I was baffled when I saw it. I could've sworn it was just a handful of schools, ND, Navy, Army, UMass, and UConn. But go back into "olden times" (1980s) and there were even more independents. More people should know and report this. 😉
@@AerynBellaI remember it vividly. In the 80s I watched Penn st play Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl, and Miami in the Fiesta bowl. They were most definitely a national brand. They long to be that again.
Nah notre dame tried to join a conference and they said no. Now that we are successful on our own and don’t have to share nil money they changed their minds and want us in their conference. Not going to happen. Enjoy the recruiting disadvantage you made for yourselves. The Irish are independent ☘️
THANK YOU! Hell, it's more than 50% but see, that's why they like to chip about their "independence".....they think they can brainwash people into believing it. All sports minus ice hockey are ACC. Football is 5/8ths and sometime 3/4 into the ACC. But keep on chirping about that independence you frauds!
Shouldnt have to. Each college decided to join a conference. Why doesnt ND get that same option to choose? Its because of grumpy SEC fans who cant get over the fact that the rest of the CFB gets to buy players with NIL like they did for a decade, and now they are slipping. Its just jealousy. They couldve chose independence, but instead they said "well we chose this option, so you should BE FORCED TO IT out of FAIRNESS" lol if the SEC didnt get away with recruiting violations for a decade before NIL, their bandwagon fans wouldnt be so annoying. But instead we have to listen to uneducated SEC fans talk nonsense while their teams sit on the sidelines saying "its unfair ND has beat everyone besides a close slip up to the most funded FCS team in history". The Big Ten had multiple chances to snag ND, now they lost out. Tough luck. We are AMERICAS team. Not the Big Tens, not the SEC. WE are NOTRE DAME. Grow up SEC fans. Sorry you picked wrong.
@emoney3912 what other team has good broadcast rights and isn't sucked off by all SEC and Big Ten shills? I'll wait while you guess. Ill just assume you a pathetic SEC fan.
@@emoney3912 sorry SEC fan, but other teams get national attention without the media needing to put that colleges D in their mouth. Stay in your lane lil SEC boy. Yall are trash, just accept it. Without the years of cheating, yall wouldve been done decades ago.
Calm down Notre Dame is back but theyve had many shots at being back for 40 years and theyve choked. This year they didnt choke , dont go and excuse why theyve stank for so long
@@voiceofreason2674 how many other teams have reached the final game of the year in the last 30 years as many times as ND? Just top tier conference teams. The argument is silly. "stank" still reached the playoffs, championships etc with the bias held towards conference teams. ND is elite. yall just bad. We have the highest FBS graduation rate too. So we excel on and off the field. Unlike SEC programs like Georgia that ship as many to Prison as they do the NFL. ND makes good humans and football players. The Big Ten and SEC, just make good college football players with overinflated egos, like their fans. We arent the best, we just fight the hardest without the most ref handouts like the SEC or B10). You can only deal with so many years of SEC/B10 fans talking before you lose patience, the ego be crazy).
I am a Louisville fan and would love to see UConn in the ACC. It's a play on the NY market and they provide a strong BB history. They would be mid conference in football but their presence keeps some NE football. They fit well with the NE football teams like BC, Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Louisville.
@ yeah that would be awesome! Love to have the old Big East gang back together. We were supposed to join the ACC and many schools including yours wanted us in but Boston College blocked us because they wanted to be the only New England school in the conference. It’s also tough cause we’re in arguably the best basketball conference but now our football team is gonna be one of two independents next year.
Notre Dame should stay independent and more schools should consider going independent. I don't understand the value of the conferences for powerhouse programs period.
Is there any other team that in two weeks flies from the Midwest to to the East Coast or South Carolina/Georgia or Florida, back to the the Midwest, then flies to California and and to the Midwest? That’s what so great about being independent. And for everybody that says they play cupcake schedules, remember schedules are made years in advance. Look at FSU for example. They were 13-1 last year and made the playoffs. This year they were 2-10. They have a home and home scheduled with Alabama in 2027 and 2028 I think. Like I said that’s what’s great about being independent. They play 12 games. 5 have to be against ACC opponents. They always play USC and Navy, so so that’s 7. Then they always schedule a patsy like NIU (every team does) That leaves 4 openings to schedule whoever they want.
If the SEC played 9 conference games then half the schools will receive an L. Notre Dame will continue to remain an independent because they do not split/share the revenue. This years CFP bracket needs to be tweaked.
I don't care if they are or aren't in a conference I dont see why it's a problem but I do think at some point the CFP will make it harder for them to either get it in or have a decent seed
Teams in the SEC and Big 10 don’t “face a gauntlet” . The middle to bottom of those conferences are average at best. Thats just math. Just because teams play in a conference is no guarantee that they will face “a gauntlet”
No college has to join a conference so why should Notre Dame? In fact every school is an independent when the grant of rights expires. Texas and USC switched conferences because when their GORs expired, they were free to do so. Every school has a way out, and is feee to get out of their conference if it is in their financial interest. And as it is ND sacrifices TV revenue compared to Big 10 and SEC by being independent. Makes no sense for coaches in those conferences to complain about that.
Notre Dame is just like any other college team. They draft a player based on his playing ability, not based on his I.Q. or his devotion to the Catholic religion.
Everyone is crying about Notre Dame not being in a conference because they are winning... Even though they laughed at Notre Dame for not being in a conference when they lost. Pick a side already you clowns.
To me i think this shows more about how useless conferences are. Conferences feels pretty useless. the only ones that matter are the Big10 and the SEC. even if conferences were demolished, those teams would still play each other a lot and have rivalries due to geography. what is especially wrong is how conference champions get the top 4 seeds and bye. This year all 4 conference champions were one and done. The only argument i can see for conferences are rivalries, and like i said you can still have those.
Texas seriously considered being independent in 2005, after the USC / Texas game at Rose Bowl. They also looked at joining the Pac10/Pac12. For variety of reasons, they rejected that option.
The Big Ten offered membership and upon refusal they picked up Penn State. They wanted to stay independent and not play the "little schools". They were forced to play 5 ACC schools as per the agreement to allow their basketball team to join the ACC. When they weren't allowed to play for ACC title in football, they went back to independent.
They play 5 football game’s every year against ACC teams. They are a full member in all other sports in the ACC. So they are a semi member of a conference.
That money is going into the athletic department to pay the cost of operations for all the school's athletic teams. Anything that is left over goes into the university's general fund. NIL funding is still coming from collectives, private companies, and individuals IIRC.
Why not have a format like this: 16 team playoff. 3 Automatic bids for the top 3 SEC and Big 10 schools. 2 Automatic bids for the Big 12 and ACC each. The remaining 6 bids would be given out based on national record + the conference championships of smaller conferences would essentially count a championship win as an extra 2 wins to a schools record. So if Tulane won their conference they’d go from just 11-2 to 13-2 (not literally but in terms of committee consideration), giving them a higher chance of getting in. Independents like Notre dame would be judged purely on national ranking position. Essentially if you’re independent or in a small conference and in the top 15 you get in over a school from a bigger conference. Lastly, placement in the playoff is decided based on national ranking position. We saw during this playoff that the bye time could actually hurt a teams performance so having everyone play their games would make for better football. Just have rank 1 go against rank 16, 2 against 15, and so on and so forth.
Only missing narrative is for some reason they want to down play Notre Dame talent level. It is not like they are that far behind. Total five stars yes in final 4 but they have more 4 stars than all of them. They are now consistently a top 10 recruiting class for past 5 years. They DID NOT TAKE a bunch of transfers like IU as mentioned, who took 31 transfers. They only had 10 transfers in which is on the low side but were strategic. There depth of talent is there, they have as many if not more injuries to starters than anyone in the playoffs and the depth is showing up and why they are still winning. Let's quit acting like ND's talent depth is what they had on the field in 2013 where it was obvious against possibly the best college football team of all time.
In my college football dynasty I out them in the big ten and it just felt so right. It’s like they naturally belong there culturally, geographically and financially. I just think it’s time for ND to join the big ten!
Stay independent. It's one of the last vestiges of tradition that still exists in College football. For the jealous people their school can try to go independent too. Give it a shot.
I love their head coach. Granted I don’t know him,or anybody that does,but I like what I’ve seen. I love seeing Christian’s talk about Jesus in espn. I’m sure Disney is furious about it. lol. Makes me enjoy it even more.
UCONN's football program is currently independent, and UMASS's football program is currently independent. Why isn't anyone talking about them? And both programs play top quality opponents such as Georgia, Boston College, just to name a few.
PENN STATE,LOUISVILLE, FLORIDA STATE and MIAMI were all independents MIAMI played toughest schedule year for over 50 yrs.(strength of schedule,check for yourself) then Scnellenberger started using schedule to recruit(why he chose to coach there) and started defeating big name schools and winning national championships teams. So conferences quit scheduling them and no conference wanted Miami to join (dominate) so they froze them out of competing so were forced to create the Big EAST with other independents to be able to have a schedule for the season.
If Notre Dame joined the ACC as a football member, I think the Atlantic Coast Conference would separate itself from the Big 12 and join the top tier group with the B1G and the SEC. A top portion of the conference with Clemson, Notre Dame, Florida State, and Miami would be impressive, especially when you include the rising teams like SMU and Louisville.
Purdue fan. We used to have a regular football rivalry. Although the W-L record favored ND, Purdue loved upending them and being the "Spoilermakers". Today, though, there is no way I as a fan would want ND in the B1G. I don't care what else happens to them, whether they join another conference or remain independent.
I love how this guy left out the key part of Notre Dame’s independence. Notre Dame tried to join the Big Ten way back in the day but the U. of Chicago and the school in Ann Arbor blocked them from joining. That’s why ND isn’t in the Big Ten…but in the 90’s when the Big Ten came after ND, the Irish remembered and told them to pound sand. As far as the ACC or anyone else, Notre Dame doesn’t need a conference.
They couldn't though. The game is mostly regional. Outside of Notre Dame and the service academies, there really aren't schools with a big national following. Outside of the bandwagon fans every year. Texas could much easier than Bama, because they already draw fans from such a huge population in their home state. But they don't have the footprint Notre Dame has. So it likely wouldn't work and it certainly wouldn't be easy for them.
Yeah, Notre dame is truly the #1 college football tv draw in Chicago, and the only one in the New York area, and Boston. NY and Chicago are the #1&3 media markets in the US. No other teams would get nearly as many eyeballs every week in these markets. That's why ND plays sold out "home" games in NFL stadiums in these cities yearly. Alabama could play Georgia in MetLife and it probably wouldn't sell out.
Reason we don't have it anymore is the Big Ten added teams and made them play more in conference games. Then the Big Ten fans whine about the Irish schedule.
Beyond the historical reasons, when Penn St, Texas, Ohio St, and ND all won their quarter final games, they all got $14M checks for winning, but ND didn't have to revenue share with the rest of their conference. No financial reason for them to join a conference since they're a big enough brand to make big money media deals and be good enough to seem like a playoff fixture with Freeman at HC.
Basically how it went down: Notre Dame wanted to joined the B10. Michigan throw a hissy fit and beg the board to say no. Which they did. Notre Dame asked again century later yet same answers thanks to Michigan Influence. 21st century came along and Notre Dame don't mind being independent because they keep the profit they are making.
ND did not get a TV deal because they were independent. The Supreme Court ruled that the NCAA's restrictive television policies were a violation of antitrust law in the 1980s when the University of Georgia and the University of Oklahoma sued the NCAA in NCAA v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma over television restrictions (limit of six television appearances over two years) established in 1952. As a result of the ruling, conferences negotiated TV packages with revenue sharing for all. ND as an independent and strong enough negotiated a contract for their home games with NBC. Many people do not realize the size of the Notre Dame. When I tell people that the school has about 8800 undergrads and another 2000 graduate students, most are stunned. They thought ND was 20,000 or more like most of their opponents. How does iND compete in a conference with schools like OSU, PSU, UM, MSU that have 30-60,000 students backed by state revenue? They would be come Northwestern very quickly. Further, ND recruits country-wide and joining a conference would regionlize its recruiting to the Midwest where most of the games are played. Finally, a few losing years because of bad coaching choices would sink them to the lower rungs of the conference and turn them into a Nebraska. Fans can scream all they want but ND is carrying a big hammer. The SEC doesn't want them in the B1G and the B1G doesn't want them in the SEC. All that TV money ND gets would fall to the conference they join and tip the balance of money and power. Getting to keep the NBC contract would be a bargaining chip in negotiating which conference they choose. Finally, fans may not like what they get with ND in a conference, especially if it were forced. The smaller size of the school I talked about above is an advantage when you have a $20B endowment fund. (With the exception of Texas and TAMU) no SEC school has an endowment over $2B. One other thing, being a national, actually an international school, ND has a organized string of alumni clubs spread throughout the US (280 clubs) and in foreign countries (90). There are 21 in Florida, 20 in Texas, and 19 in CA. The biggest are in CHI, NYC and Bos. All are capable of raising a lot of money. They can easily pay for trips home for recruits to give a speech (and see Mom&Dad, get paid, cut local advertising deals, etc) and it would all be legal under the new rules limiting NIL to $20M per school. Recruits can still have separate deals they get by themselves and approved by separate Panel of Officials.
They earned the right to be independent. They're the most recognized Brand in the World why should they share that. Its taken over 100 yrs to build. They understand their value to college football
A better question is why teams like Ohio State, Mich, Georgia, Bama, USC, Tex and maybe a couple of others are not independent. Currently there are only maybe 10 teams that realistically can win a natty.
They are full members of the ACC in everything but football. My understanding is they had a great TV contract worth millions and they didn't want to break that.
ND would have to share all the TV money if they were in a conference. They already have their own worldwide TV network (NBC), so what's the point in sharing the money with 15 other conference members?
If they stay good and consistently win playoff games they should stay independent because they get more money for winning playoff games. If they don’t join a conference they don’t have to split up the money they earn with the rest of a conference. The question really depends on whether they stay good and play good teams. If they keep competing then it makes sense for them to stay out but if they lose their prestige then they should consider it.
You can say what ever you want, but I grew up in South bend and me and my 7 brothers adored Notre Dame, and I’m gonna say this once and say is again LETS GO IRISH!!!! 🍀🍀 deal with it
Fan of an SEC school, Notre Dame is in a conference in every sport except Football. At this point, I fail to see why they would want too join in Football. Also, in there favor the CFP would fail to be legitimate if Notre Dame were excluded. As long as they are competitive I see no reason for movement on their part. The partnership they have with ACC was what they needed. It locked ND into other non-CFP bowls.
Ohio State also wanted ND as an independent. Woody Hayes was ND’s best recruiter. If Woody had a talented recruit but chose not to extend a scholarship, he would push the player heavily to go to ND so that the player would not go to Michigan.
Here’s a question why do they have conferences used to be regional thing that’s out the window. Isn’t it Maryland to ucla in the Big Ten, Arizona to Florida in the big 12 they had conferences for travel purposes, just saying
I’ve had trouble confirming it, but Ross Delenger reports the 2026 deal makes Norte Dame an auto-bid if ranked 12th or higher, so would not get jumped by a lower-ranked conference champion. It doesn’t give the upside of sneaking in with a conference title, but secures against the downside Alabama experienced this year.
@ No they do not. Because the top-5 ranked conference champions are in, any ranked outside the top 12 push a team out. This year, Alabama was ranked #11 and pushed out because Arizona State (12) and Clemson (16) were conference champions. As Ross Delinger reports it under the 2026 memorandum of understanding, if we swap ND and Bama in this year’s rankings, such that Alabama would be #5 and Notre Dame #11, the Irish would still be in, but Indiana (#10) would’ve been pushed out
Maybe more teams should be like Notre Dame and become independent. If they would tried to force Notre Dame into a conference a million graduates from ND's law school would sue and win.
ND attempted to join the B10 during the 30s and were blocked by UM due to anti catholic sentiment. It’s why even after all those years, ND chose the ACC for all other sports.
Edit: I know ND Hockey is in the B10. This was a move of necessity for the program because the ACC didn’t support Hockey at the time.
Hm, 100 years ago and they will still pull that card?
They are soft if they don’t join a real conference, and after the big ten additions last year, there’s no reason they wouldn’t allow them in.
@@Mich-jk2ze yeah, you don't understand. Michigan blocked them from playing AND didn't allow the other big ten schools to schedule them. Notre Dame was then unable to schedule anyone nearby. Then Navy offered to play them, essentially saving the program, and they still play to this day. That's why they historically play teams from all over the country, local teams refused to schedule them for decades because of Michigan.
Their independence is a core identity to Notre Dame and they've always scheduled extremely tough. You kids who have made up this idea that they schedule all cupcakes is completely nuts. Educate yourself. Garbage realignment has hurt their ability to schedule as tough as they'd like to in recent years because teams they used to schedule don't have room anymore for them. Not their fault
@@Mich-jk2zeallow them? Hahaha u know how many times in the 90s and countless other times they were courted by everyone. But being who they are they don’t need a conference and will never need one. With nil they now have an actual shot in the modern area if anything they need a conference less then ever
At this point they’ll never join the Big Ten because they don’t want to be “just another Midwest football school”
30s like the 1930s? lmao
Fielding yost of Michigan was prejudice against Catholics and boycotted them joining the big 10 and even playing them.
They had to no choice but travel the country. And now they have historical rivalries they are not going to give up. Did you know they will never stop playing navy because the navy saved the school during world war 2? Did you know that SEC schools boycotted hosting ND in the 50s because they had black players?
Most critics are simply ignorant of the historical facts around NDs independence
Joe Paterno also lobbied against ND joining the Big 10
ND tried to get into the Western C9nference then Big10 since-1908. Yost, the Cisler, plus Paterno and Hayes all prevented ND from not only joining the Big10, but any conference.
People don't realize that the KKK was anti-Catholic as well as being racist.
This is the reason. It is well documented in the book Shake Down the Thunder, by Indiana University professor Murray Sperber.
No, cherry picking the Joe Paterno quote when what he said was they had their chance. All of the big ten, including Penn State, signed off on the original offer. That Joe Paterno quote was a decade afterwards.
Most of the big 10 more Catholic than the nation. Maybe a few places, like Indiana or Iowa, but all the big states Catholic. Big states of Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Besides the USC and UCLA media market is Catholic.
Independence just feels so American.
Agreed. If other programs are so jealous of Notre Dame's independence, they can give it a try themselves.
we getvit note damn is scared of getting that ass whooped
@@tmcatee4810Penn state was and had to join a conference because they didn’t have the cash for it
@@tmcatee4810 Except they're not independent. They rely on the Atlantic Coast Conference for everything but ice hockey. But you Holier Than Thou'ers keep up the narrative lie all you want. Whatever makes you feel better. LOL!!!!
not independent
In the age of NIL everyone is now remembering or realizing that there is no end to Notre Dame money. No conference has anything to offer them.
Absolute facts! They gain nothing
@@sheldonpegram8421 but do lose money if they join. I dont think they should have to should join. if they won the conference game this year they wouldve played the same amount of games which some people complained about. Other teams getting money from your big games is dumb as well.
Sorry Noter Dame is nowhere as rich as the richest conference teams.
@matthewhuszarik4173 Notre Dame's endowment is like $20 Billion and they have the support of arguably the most influential organization on Earth.
@@matthewhuszarik4173 🤣The rich if the richest conference teams are Notre Dame's maids!
they tried at least 3 times to enter the big 10 and were blocked each time, want to say during the time of knute, ara, and holtz is when it happened. But now... what incentive to join one? They have the NBC contract a few more years, their recruiting class rank is on the rise, they are known around the globe, and would lose money being in a conference.
That was in 1926. Some things have changed since then, you might say. If ND expects to be contenders in an expanding playoff era, they will eventually have to drop the princess routine and join a conference for future consideration. The same standard that every other team must meet will be imposed upon them.
@@gouldingsteve LOL they didnt get a bye week because of them being an independent, how exactly did they get an unfair advantage? Both ND and Ohio state have played 15 games, they are top 10 in recruiting, still have the nbc deal, their is no benefit to them joining a conference.
@Irishhaf Never said anything about an advantage. I said held to the same standard. Low reading comprehension is a real problem in America.
They already have the same standard as every other team. Any team could be independent if they want to or are financially able to, but almost no one else can. Case and point BYU. They thought they could do what ND did but weren’t successful and joined the big 12 at their first chance
@@gouldingsteve try again it's called you implied something, they had to do more than a conference champion just to get in but you implied they didn't. if they aren't at the same standard they must have and advantage otherwise why try to force them into a conference
When Notre Dame beat Michigan for the first time in the series, Fielding Yost told everyone in the Big Ten, then the Western Conference, to not play Notre Dame.
During rhe Rockne era, the Irish tried to join the conference on multiple occasions. Every time, being denied by Michigan.
After the final attempt, Notre Dame decided to embrace being the "national school." That took them out west to face USC and east to take on Army.
Notre Dame is not going to join a conference because they don't have to. This year and the run they're on proves that. The Irish have $20 million all to themselves and don't have to share it with anyone, unlike Ohio State where they have to share it with 17 other teams.
Stay independent obviously. It doesn’t really matter anymore. They made the natty as a 7 seed, so obviously they’re legit. I had a problem in 2012 because everyone knew their schedule was nowhere near UGA or Florida and they didnt belong with Bama. Now, they have to win 4 tough games to win it all. Seems fair to me.
Fair enough don’t agree with the 2012 schedule take they beat enough ranked teams and defense was historic before running into that all time saban team
In 2012 they had a pretty strong schedule. They beat 4 top 20 teams and 2 top 10 teams that year, and the only team on their schedule that isn't currently in the ACC, SEC, or Big 10 was Navy. I don't think you can really say it was a very weak schedule. They didn't play an SEC team that year and the SEC in that era was just way above the other conferences, but they played as hard a schedule as anyone outside the SEC.
I also want to say, of not for the Manti Teo fake girlfriend situation that the whole team knew about and were keeping secret, and that was obviously fucking with their best player, I think there's a good chance that same was competitive and ND could even have won. I don't think they showed up because that craziness was going on but none of us knew.
The portal actually allows them to be more selective..A Senior QB attending grad school is no academic barrier.
Started in 1899, Indiana and Iowa sent delegates to Big Ten meeting and Notre Dame got invited by sending no delegates to represent them! Indiana and Iowa got granted for the membership and Big Ten accepted them while Notre Dame got left behind ! In the mid 20’s that Rockne wanted to join and Michigan’s Fielding Yost voted a block to it while prejudiced over anti-Catholic views back in the day! The rest was history and same thing happened when Penn State joined as 11th team while trying to get the even number of teams in the conference back in early 90’s!
Notre Dame will always be independent!!! Get over it!!!;
I couldn't care less if they are or not... but eventually, they'll join a conference.
@@PPA625 - ND is one of the biggest brands in all of sport let alone CFB, and they take pride in being independent. ESPN may talk junk, but they can't wait to have them on their network because ND is ratings gold. I cannot imagine why they would fully join a conference.
@@azul93gt38 - GTFOH. They're not even a Top 5 brand in CFB, let alone all sports. No CFB team is anywhere near the biggest brands in all sports.
Then they won’t win anything significant. We don’t care either way
@@azul93gt38they don’t play any real competition with the death of USC and the other west coast teams. Their “rivalries” are now cupcake teams
Last year, Florida State went 13-0 and were the ACC Champions.
They were kept out of the 4-team playoff.
Screw a conference.
They still sucked though so we didn’t miss out.
They wouldn’t have won either way. Lower seeds don’t win unless you’re Ohio State
They lost their incredible QB late in the season, otherwise they would have been in.
We need more independents
What program could sustain independence???
To be fair the only programs who'd benefit are OSU, UM and PSU in the north and Bama, Georgia and LSU in the south. The OSU and UM ARE the big 10. PSU could do it and if Alabama, Georgia and LSU didnt have Vandy bringing their conference GPA up they'd probably have to stop pretending to be universities lol
@@Gallalad1Penn state failed the independent thing
I would love to see my Hawaii Rainbow Warriors become independent one day. I don't want them to be in the Mountain West forever.
I love how no one cares that they are independent until they are winning. Them being a big time program that is also independent makes ND and college football unique. People need to stop hating on the successful formulas of others when it doesn't benefit them.
Seems like the other team in the National Championship game didn’t play in a conference championship game either, so……
Well they lost to a very inconsistent Michigan. That’s not as bad as NIU but still pretty bad
As a Bama fan, I've been thinking about it for years but I think it would be nice for us to go Independent regardless of seeding. I would be mad too if I shared my check to somebody in my conference I despise or hate.
Yeah, but how was it receiving Texas, Tennessee, and Georgia’s handouts this year?
Notre Dame has always been an independent school for my entire life and always a topic of Football news why the heck would they want to change that? Jealousy is the story behind all that is going on now over not having to split that $20,000,000 f .or the playoffs with a conference and lesser teams
I feel like it’s fine if they aren’t in one but if other teams want to start being independent I think that should be fine too
not independent please go learn about your team and where they currently reside, mkay???
Notre Dame’s independence from the conference system has only been good for the program up until this point. The new playoff system needs to entirely forget conferences altogether. We saw this year that structuring the tournament around conferences doesn’t work because most conferences don’t even have a single team worth putting on that bracket. If the BIG 10 and SEC are demanding guaranteed tickets their cries should go unheard. The point of the playoff is to have the best of the best in college football, if you want everything that comes with the CFP you have to earn it on the field. Notre Dame has done that and this season proves that they’re better off without selling out to the BIG10 or anyone else.
I agree, Conference Championships and Conference Refs need to go immediately. NCAA needs to step up and utilize a national ref system instead of the tilted conference ref system.
My problem is that ND can play all regular season cupcakes and get into the playoff just because of their brand. Joining a conference is the fairest thing to do.
“Just as the Universities of Michigan or Wisconsin or Illinois have core identities as the flagship institutions of their states, so Notre Dame has a core identity, and at that core are these characteristics-Catholic, private, independent,”
-Father “Monk” Malloy, former president of the University of Notre Dame
I hope they don't join. I love CFB for all the interesting quirks it has, including Notre Dame as an Independent. I miss the times when more schools were independent.
It was fine in a time when players were actually amateurs
@keokihiga8462 I think that was a very long time ago that athletes were purely amateur. I'd imagine that by the 70s top players were getting "perks."
0:25 you're trying to trick us into recognizing that couch, and I ain't gonna fall for it
Notre Dame does not need to be in one. Independence is at the core of Notre Dames identity in a way that isnt the case for other historical independents. They've also been blocked from joining the big ten several times, it's the root of their rivalry with Michigan.
If their current (totally garbage) fb scheduling agreement and non football membership with the ACC was simply with the big ten instead, it would be perfect
Exactly. No one would be crying about this if they had football scheduling agreements and parked basketball/Olympic sports with the B1G instead of the garbage ACC.
@@mfahy0718 THANK YOU FOR ACKNOWLEDGING THAT NOTRE LAME IS IN THE ACC. The only point I was trying to make. Now, please, continue with your delusional selves.
@@mfahy0718 except they are in the ACC. not an independent.
You glossed over the MAIN reason Notre Dame first became an Independent:
University of Michigan taught Notre Dame how to play football back in 1887. Through the years (off and on) they played eight times with Michigan winning all. When Notre Dame first beat the Wolverines, coached by Fielding Yost on November 6, 1909 by a score of 11-3, Yost outright petitioned to ban Notre Dame from ever joining the Western Conference (now the BIG 10). As he had so much power in the BIG the committee banned the Irish, which meant Notre Dame had to look for other teams to play. The major reason the Notre Dame/Michigan rivalry/hatred exists to this day.
This, of course, famously led to Knute Rockne acquiescing to his wife's desire to go to California to vacation with her friend (who was married to USC's Athletic Director) because the midwest winters were so cold. Rockne took the opportunity and boarded a train with his wife and his team and they went west to play USC, creating the greatest intersectional rivalry in college football.
The NBC TV deal is for broadcasting Notre Dame HOME games. This is why you see their games on ABC, CBS and NBC, because those are all AWAY games.
Lastly, for the Indiana first round game this year, played in Notre Dame Stadium, ESPN has all the TV rights for the college football playoffs, which is why it was broadcast on ABC/ESPN. The first time another network's cameras have been inside Notre Dame Stadium since 1989.
It makes no sense for Notre Dame to join a conference
ND proudly celebrating their Independence! 🎆 🎇 🧨 ND has no Owners unlike all of the teams in a conference do! Aaah so Liberating!😎
Nobody has ever cared about them being in a conference. Why is it problem now ?
It's because they are winning. They played powerhouses all year long until the P5 conferences got greedy.
Because they beat Georgia. So SEC fans are acting like pathetic children
Ermmmm this has been going on for a while maybe search it before making false statements Go Irish ☘️
Because they get to keep their playoff money for themselves, and not sharing it with these other teams. Now they are butthurt because ND is making more than they are.
@@AaronTheGreat________the voices are louder now, though. We have to see the correlation.
I'll give you 45 million reasons why they shouldn't join a conference just since the opening round of the CFP this year. No winning split with Rutgers, Kentucky Arkansas, Purdue or any other pile of deadweight that makes up the half to 2/3 of all conferences.
Everyone else is just jealous that they don't have to give up the money they earn from playoff wins.
Alabama watched their conference championship game from home and still got into two BCS four team playoffs. The SEC has been regularly scheduling teams like Mercer every year to fill out their 13 game schedule. I could go on but if you are an Irish hater you'll always make reasons to be so.
As long as there is a financial incentive for Notre Dame to remain independent, they should. If there's a compelling financial incentive to join a conference, they should. It's that simple. It's always been about the money.
I can think of 70 million reasons why Notre Dame is not in a conference.
Freedom. Notre Dame should stay Independent. They have to play Navy and choose to keep other historic rivals.
not an independent. And NO ONE "HAS" to play Navy. God, you've been brainwashed.
Murray Sperber's book Shake Down the Thunder places principal responsibility for the Big Ten blackballing and boycotting of Notre Dame on Yost. It also claims this was motivated by anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant prejudice common in the early 20th century, though John Kyrk's book Natural Enemies points out that there was a bitter feud between Yost and Knute Rockne, head coach of the Notre Dame football team.
i don't think it's an issue, but i'm not a college football nerd or something so i get confused at times. I believe BYU was independent before joining the big 12.
Every team can also leave a conference. Knowbody is forcing them to stay in their conference. I will never understand why schools like LSU and Alabama. Just dont leave they are big enough schools with large fan bases that will follow, then create hour own media contracts and they would be in the same position as ND
They won't get the same media contract money that ND gets. That's why they can remain independent AND financially viable. ND is the only school that can carry a nationwide NETWORK tv contract on their own. Alabama vs LSU gets less eyeballs on NY, LA, or Chicago TV than Notre Dame vs anybody.
4:38 Also important to remember that ND has scheduled Miami Florida, but Miami got scared and cancelled the game.
They are scheduled to play in 2025
NBC deal is mostly the reason. They still have something with the ACC since half of their games are played with them.
If ND had that scheduling agreement with the B1G instead of the ACC, no one would be complaining.
@ yeah no one can deny us when we play USC, Maryland, Rutgers, Iowa, and Michigan State.
most of their non-football programs are in the ACC, you think ND's women's basketball is going to get into the final four by being independent, no, they get there by competing in the ACC, in Football they don't need a conference, and the most important games are Rivalry games, and teams try to find space to try to get a home and home match agreement with ND, but what does the SEC do for Non-Conference, play teams from The Sun Belt Conference that is below a group of 5 conference, tell why was it necessary for Alabama to play HCBU school Mercer, ND's future schedule if you remove the ACC, while have Texas A&M, Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan in future games within the next 5 years. I'd say stay salty if you still hate them, and I see conferences as over rated, Texas got in to the CFP but which big teams did they beat to get in, they didn't play Bama, Ole Miss, or South Carolina, they played UGA twice, and lost both times, what major opponent did Indiana beat to get in, sharing your playoff check with a team that is the conferences whipping, who will never make the CFP but collects that bonus is good thing for a university like Rutgers, and Maryland in the big ten, and Vandervilt, but not a great thing for OSU and PSU who collects 28 million for making it to the semi-finals, and their collective cut of the check is....less than 2 million after you cut it 16 ways, ND gets 14 million, and keep 14 million, now independence doesn't look so bad after all.
@ also hockey is in the B1G lol
You should probably frame your arguments better. There used to be a lot more independent teams. I'd forgotten this and stumbled onto it a few weeks ago when I was looking up old ND win-loss records. Anyway, Penn State, Miami, even Florida State were independent up until the 1980s and 90s. You should ask "Why did they give up their independence and join conferences?" When the answer is "They needed money," then you can pivot to the TV contracts for why ND could keep their independent status.
When you need money for salaries, facilities, scholarships, and you're not getting it from ticket sales and alumni donations, then joining a conference and getting a share of the pie seems like a good thing. Schools did not join conferences in order to have standardized football schedules. I imagine they played schools in a general "bus-travelling" region, and only ventured further out when trains and planes got more reliable. Even now a lot of SEC schools don't schedule any teams north of Missouri, Tennessee, and Kentucky.
My point is lots of schools started out independent. The question should be "Why aren't they anymore?" and "Why is ND almost the last one?"
Penn St built its brand as an independent. In their hearts Penn st fans know it. They seem to think that since they sold out, everyone should have to.
@LovelyCobra-fv6pp I'd understand that viewpoint. I just wish more people knew the history. I was baffled when I saw it. I could've sworn it was just a handful of schools, ND, Navy, Army, UMass, and UConn. But go back into "olden times" (1980s) and there were even more independents. More people should know and report this. 😉
@@AerynBellaI remember it vividly. In the 80s I watched Penn st play Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl, and Miami in the Fiesta bowl. They were most definitely a national brand. They long to be that again.
Nah notre dame tried to join a conference and they said no. Now that we are successful on our own and don’t have to share nil money they changed their minds and want us in their conference. Not going to happen. Enjoy the recruiting disadvantage you made for yourselves. The Irish are independent ☘️
No it’s not wrong. No Notre Dame won’t be joining a conference anytime soon.
When almost 50% of ND's football schedule is controlled by an outside party, it isn't really indy. It's quasi-indy.
THANK YOU! Hell, it's more than 50% but see, that's why they like to chip about their "independence".....they think they can brainwash people into believing it. All sports minus ice hockey are ACC. Football is 5/8ths and sometime 3/4 into the ACC. But keep on chirping about that independence you frauds!
Never change Notre Dame, I'm a Ohio State fan and respect the Irish saying 🖕 conferences.
Shouldnt have to. Each college decided to join a conference. Why doesnt ND get that same option to choose? Its because of grumpy SEC fans who cant get over the fact that the rest of the CFB gets to buy players with NIL like they did for a decade, and now they are slipping. Its just jealousy. They couldve chose independence, but instead they said "well we chose this option, so you should BE FORCED TO IT out of FAIRNESS" lol if the SEC didnt get away with recruiting violations for a decade before NIL, their bandwagon fans wouldnt be so annoying. But instead we have to listen to uneducated SEC fans talk nonsense while their teams sit on the sidelines saying "its unfair ND has beat everyone besides a close slip up to the most funded FCS team in history". The Big Ten had multiple chances to snag ND, now they lost out. Tough luck. We are AMERICAS team. Not the Big Tens, not the SEC. WE are NOTRE DAME. Grow up SEC fans. Sorry you picked wrong.
Notre Dame us not Americas team 😂
@emoney3912 what other team has good broadcast rights and isn't sucked off by all SEC and Big Ten shills? I'll wait while you guess. Ill just assume you a pathetic SEC fan.
@@emoney3912 sorry SEC fan, but other teams get national attention without the media needing to put that colleges D in their mouth. Stay in your lane lil SEC boy. Yall are trash, just accept it. Without the years of cheating, yall wouldve been done decades ago.
Calm down Notre Dame is back but theyve had many shots at being back for 40 years and theyve choked. This year they didnt choke , dont go and excuse why theyve stank for so long
@@voiceofreason2674 how many other teams have reached the final game of the year in the last 30 years as many times as ND? Just top tier conference teams. The argument is silly. "stank" still reached the playoffs, championships etc with the bias held towards conference teams. ND is elite. yall just bad. We have the highest FBS graduation rate too. So we excel on and off the field. Unlike SEC programs like Georgia that ship as many to Prison as they do the NFL. ND makes good humans and football players. The Big Ten and SEC, just make good college football players with overinflated egos, like their fans. We arent the best, we just fight the hardest without the most ref handouts like the SEC or B10). You can only deal with so many years of SEC/B10 fans talking before you lose patience, the ego be crazy).
Notre Dame should join ACC......
Stanford, UC Berkeley (Cal), Duke, Notre Dame, UNC....All Academic Powerhouse.
How would that benefit their football team? Answer: It wouldn’t.
ND plays 5 ACC games each year. They are ACC for all other sports. This is much conference affiliation ND will ever chose.
@ Fun fact: ND is already in the Big 10.
Um......they're in the ACC already. Don't be brainwashed.
Would love to see a UConn video from you, but make sure to point out how the Huskies performed this past season
ACC never adding UConn never made sense to me, especially now that basketball in the ACC has been garbage with the exception of Duke.
@ yeah they screwed themselves there. Ironically it was BC that screwed us and look how it all ended up
I am a Louisville fan and would love to see UConn in the ACC. It's a play on the NY market and they provide a strong BB history. They would be mid conference in football but their presence keeps some NE football. They fit well with the NE football teams like BC, Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Louisville.
@ yeah that would be awesome! Love to have the old Big East gang back together. We were supposed to join the ACC and many schools including yours wanted us in but Boston College blocked us because they wanted to be the only New England school in the conference. It’s also tough cause we’re in arguably the best basketball conference but now our football team is gonna be one of two independents next year.
Notre Dame should stay independent and more schools should consider going independent. I don't understand the value of the conferences for powerhouse programs period.
ND is a well-known, international academic institution, not a profootball farm
Is there any other team that in two weeks flies from the Midwest to to the East Coast or South Carolina/Georgia or Florida, back to the the Midwest, then flies to California and and to the Midwest? That’s what so great about being independent. And for everybody that says they play cupcake schedules, remember schedules are made years in advance. Look at FSU for example. They were 13-1 last year and made the playoffs. This year they were 2-10. They have a home and home scheduled with Alabama in 2027 and 2028 I think.
Like I said that’s what’s great about being independent. They play 12 games. 5 have to be against ACC opponents. They always play USC and Navy, so so that’s 7. Then they always schedule a patsy like NIU (every team does) That leaves 4 openings to schedule whoever they want.
If the SEC played 9 conference games then half the schools will receive an L. Notre Dame will continue to remain an independent because they do not split/share the revenue. This years CFP bracket needs to be tweaked.
I don't care if they are or aren't in a conference I dont see why it's a problem but I do think at some point the CFP will make it harder for them to either get it in or have a decent seed
Teams in the SEC and Big 10 don’t “face a gauntlet” . The middle to bottom of those conferences are average at best. Thats just math. Just because teams play in a conference is no guarantee that they will face “a gauntlet”
No college has to join a conference so why should Notre Dame? In fact every school is an independent when the grant of rights expires. Texas and USC switched conferences because when their GORs expired, they were free to do so. Every school has a way out, and is feee to get out of their conference if it is in their financial interest. And as it is ND sacrifices TV revenue compared to Big 10 and SEC by being independent. Makes no sense for coaches in those conferences to complain about that.
Only fans of the ACC are even possibly entitled to think they should be in there imo, cause they have everything except for football and scheduling
I agree. Even playing field. Raise the minimum academic standards across all conferences to meet Notre Dame. Then we’ll talk. Go Irish!!!
Notre Dame is just like any other college team. They draft a player based on his playing ability, not based on his I.Q. or his devotion to the Catholic religion.
Everyone is crying about Notre Dame not being in a conference because they are winning...
Even though they laughed at Notre Dame for not being in a conference when they lost.
Pick a side already you clowns.
Thank You!😎
Notre Dame In The ACC would probably make the ACC a lot more like a Power 5 Conference
god help you people
@ Thanks
@ I know it’s kinda of a dumb take on College Football
To me i think this shows more about how useless conferences are. Conferences feels pretty useless. the only ones that matter are the Big10 and the SEC. even if conferences were demolished, those teams would still play each other a lot and have rivalries due to geography. what is especially wrong is how conference champions get the top 4 seeds and bye. This year all 4 conference champions were one and done. The only argument i can see for conferences are rivalries, and like i said you can still have those.
It is all about the $$$$$. A school should either be all in or all out with regards to being in a conference.
Texas seriously considered being independent in 2005,
after the USC / Texas game at Rose Bowl.
They also looked at joining the Pac10/Pac12.
For variety of reasons, they rejected that option.
They need to join the mountain west… but seriously they need to join the big 10
The Big Ten offered membership and upon refusal they picked up Penn State. They wanted to stay independent and not play the "little schools". They were forced to play 5 ACC schools as per the agreement to allow their basketball team to join the ACC. When they weren't allowed to play for ACC title in football, they went back to independent.
I always just tell people why would they join a conference when they make more money not being part of the Big10 or ACC.
They play 5 football game’s every year against ACC teams. They are a full member in all other sports in the ACC. So they are a semi member of a conference.
$14mil for the Orange bowl, which will go right to NIL deals for players next year.
That money is going into the athletic department to pay the cost of operations for all the school's athletic teams. Anything that is left over goes into the university's general fund. NIL funding is still coming from collectives, private companies, and individuals IIRC.
Love them being independent. If other teams want to try the same, theyre welcome to try. Go Irish!
Why not have a format like this:
16 team playoff.
3 Automatic bids for the top 3 SEC and Big 10 schools.
2 Automatic bids for the Big 12 and ACC each.
The remaining 6 bids would be given out based on national record + the conference championships of smaller conferences would essentially count a championship win as an extra 2 wins to a schools record. So if Tulane won their conference they’d go from just 11-2 to 13-2 (not literally but in terms of committee consideration), giving them a higher chance of getting in. Independents like Notre dame would be judged purely on national ranking position. Essentially if you’re independent or in a small conference and in the top 15 you get in over a school from a bigger conference. Lastly, placement in the playoff is decided based on national ranking position. We saw during this playoff that the bye time could actually hurt a teams performance so having everyone play their games would make for better football. Just have rank 1 go against rank 16, 2 against 15, and so on and so forth.
Why should they join a conference? Fans are enraged? I had no idea. I have been watching CFB for 40+ years. Love that chrisitan love.
If they can make the playoff bracket without being in a conference, then what is the point of joining one?
Only missing narrative is for some reason they want to down play Notre Dame talent level. It is not like they are that far behind. Total five stars yes in final 4 but they have more 4 stars than all of them. They are now consistently a top 10 recruiting class for past 5 years. They DID NOT TAKE a bunch of transfers like IU as mentioned, who took 31 transfers. They only had 10 transfers in which is on the low side but were strategic. There depth of talent is there, they have as many if not more injuries to starters than anyone in the playoffs and the depth is showing up and why they are still winning. Let's quit acting like ND's talent depth is what they had on the field in 2013 where it was obvious against possibly the best college football team of all time.
2:17: To be clear, this was exclusive rights to telecast all of their HOME GAMES, not all games.
In my college football dynasty I out them in the big ten and it just felt so right. It’s like they naturally belong there culturally, geographically and financially. I just think it’s time for ND to join the big ten!
Stay independent. It's one of the last vestiges of tradition that still exists in College football.
For the jealous people their school can try to go independent too. Give it a shot.
I love their head coach. Granted I don’t know him,or anybody that does,but I like what I’ve seen. I love seeing Christian’s talk about Jesus in espn. I’m sure Disney is furious about it. lol. Makes me enjoy it even more.
UCONN's football program is currently independent, and UMASS's football program is currently independent. Why isn't anyone talking about them? And both programs play top quality opponents such as Georgia, Boston College, just to name a few.
Abolish conferences. They make no sense anymore.
Totally agree and the bitching about who makes the playoffs will keep.out conference no good so called champs that shouldnt have made it like SMU shit
PENN STATE,LOUISVILLE, FLORIDA STATE and MIAMI were all independents MIAMI played toughest schedule year for over 50 yrs.(strength of schedule,check for yourself) then Scnellenberger started using schedule to recruit(why he chose to coach there) and started defeating big name schools and winning national championships teams. So conferences quit scheduling them and no conference wanted Miami to join (dominate) so they froze them out of competing so were forced to create the Big EAST with other independents to be able to have a schedule for the season.
If Notre Dame joined the ACC as a football member, I think the Atlantic Coast Conference would separate itself from the Big 12 and join the top tier group with the B1G and the SEC. A top portion of the conference with Clemson, Notre Dame, Florida State, and Miami would be impressive, especially when you include the rising teams like SMU and Louisville.
Notre dame joining the big 10 would be a recruiting nightmare with soo many teams in very close proximity.
Notre Dame is Historical, Iconic, Respected and Competitive. Not being in a conference makes no team or someone any different from the rest.
What is the upside to ND joining a conference! I don’t see one.
Since ASU got out I am just cheer for Notre Dame because they belong to a conference so we can just say they belong to the big 12😂
Purdue fan. We used to have a regular football rivalry. Although the W-L record favored ND, Purdue loved upending them and being the "Spoilermakers".
Today, though, there is no way I as a fan would want ND in the B1G. I don't care what else happens to them, whether they join another conference or remain independent.
I love how this guy left out the key part of Notre Dame’s independence. Notre Dame tried to join the Big Ten way back in the day but the U. of Chicago and the school in Ann Arbor blocked them from joining. That’s why ND isn’t in the Big Ten…but in the 90’s when the Big Ten came after ND, the Irish remembered and told them to pound sand. As far as the ACC or anyone else, Notre Dame doesn’t need a conference.
The only question I've ever had, is why don't more teams go independent. Then you can keep all the money. Alabama and Texas could do it easy.
No they really couldn't. If they could they would have.
They couldn't though. The game is mostly regional. Outside of Notre Dame and the service academies, there really aren't schools with a big national following. Outside of the bandwagon fans every year.
Texas could much easier than Bama, because they already draw fans from such a huge population in their home state. But they don't have the footprint Notre Dame has. So it likely wouldn't work and it certainly wouldn't be easy for them.
Yeah, Notre dame is truly the #1 college football tv draw in Chicago, and the only one in the New York area, and Boston. NY and Chicago are the #1&3 media markets in the US. No other teams would get nearly as many eyeballs every week in these markets. That's why ND plays sold out "home" games in NFL stadiums in these cities yearly. Alabama could play Georgia in MetLife and it probably wouldn't sell out.
Media rights.
Just give me Michigan vs Notre Dame every year
No. Michigan is a bunch of cheaters.
Reason we don't have it anymore is the Big Ten added teams and made them play more in conference games. Then the Big Ten fans whine about the Irish schedule.
Beyond the historical reasons, when Penn St, Texas, Ohio St, and ND all won their quarter final games, they all got $14M checks for winning, but ND didn't have to revenue share with the rest of their conference. No financial reason for them to join a conference since they're a big enough brand to make big money media deals and be good enough to seem like a playoff fixture with Freeman at HC.
Basically how it went down:
Notre Dame wanted to joined the B10.
Michigan throw a hissy fit and beg the board to say no. Which they did.
Notre Dame asked again century later yet same answers thanks to Michigan Influence.
21st century came along and Notre Dame don't mind being independent because they keep the profit they are making.
ND did not get a TV deal because they were independent. The Supreme Court ruled that the NCAA's restrictive television policies were a violation of antitrust law in the 1980s when the University of Georgia and the University of Oklahoma sued the NCAA in NCAA v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma over television restrictions (limit of six television appearances over two years) established in 1952.
As a result of the ruling, conferences negotiated TV packages with revenue sharing for all. ND as an independent and strong enough negotiated a contract for their home games with NBC.
Many people do not realize the size of the Notre Dame. When I tell people that the school has about 8800 undergrads and another 2000 graduate students, most are stunned. They thought ND was 20,000 or more like most of their opponents. How does iND compete in a conference with schools like OSU, PSU, UM, MSU that have 30-60,000 students backed by state revenue? They would be come Northwestern very quickly. Further, ND recruits country-wide and joining a conference would regionlize its recruiting to the Midwest where most of the games are played. Finally, a few losing years because of bad coaching choices would sink them to the lower rungs of the conference and turn them into a Nebraska.
Fans can scream all they want but ND is carrying a big hammer. The SEC doesn't want them in the B1G and the B1G doesn't want them in the SEC. All that TV money ND gets would fall to the conference they join and tip the balance of money and power. Getting to keep the NBC contract would be a bargaining chip in negotiating which conference they choose.
Finally, fans may not like what they get with ND in a conference, especially if it were forced. The smaller size of the school I talked about above is an advantage when you have a $20B endowment fund. (With the exception of Texas and TAMU) no SEC school has an endowment over $2B. One other thing, being a national, actually an international school, ND has a organized string of alumni clubs spread throughout the US (280 clubs) and in foreign countries (90). There are 21 in Florida, 20 in Texas, and 19 in CA. The biggest are in CHI, NYC and Bos. All are capable of raising a lot of money. They can easily pay for trips home for recruits to give a speech (and see Mom&Dad, get paid, cut local advertising deals, etc) and it would all be legal under the new rules limiting NIL to $20M per school. Recruits can still have separate deals they get by themselves and approved by separate Panel of Officials.
Are all conference equal?
They earned the right to be independent. They're the most recognized Brand in the World why should they share that. Its taken over 100 yrs to build. They understand their value to college football
A better question is why teams like Ohio State, Mich, Georgia, Bama, USC, Tex and maybe a couple of others are not independent. Currently there are only maybe 10 teams that realistically can win a natty.
UTAH is becoming indy as well. Will it ev en matter ?
They are full members of the ACC in everything but football. My understanding is they had a great TV contract worth millions and they didn't want to break that.
ND would have to share all the TV money if they were in a conference. They already have their own worldwide TV network (NBC), so what's the point in sharing the money with 15 other conference members?
If they stay good and consistently win playoff games they should stay independent because they get more money for winning playoff games. If they don’t join a conference they don’t have to split up the money they earn with the rest of a conference. The question really depends on whether they stay good and play good teams. If they keep competing then it makes sense for them to stay out but if they lose their prestige then they should consider it.
You can say what ever you want, but I grew up in South bend and me and my 7 brothers adored Notre Dame, and I’m gonna say this once and say is again LETS GO IRISH!!!! 🍀🍀 deal with it
Fan of an SEC school, Notre Dame is in a conference in every sport except Football. At this point, I fail to see why they would want too join in Football. Also, in there favor the CFP would fail to be legitimate if Notre Dame were excluded. As long as they are competitive I see no reason for movement on their part. The partnership they have with ACC was what they needed. It locked ND into other non-CFP bowls.
Ohio State also wanted ND as an independent. Woody Hayes was ND’s best recruiter. If Woody had a talented recruit but chose not to extend a scholarship, he would push the player heavily to go to ND so that the player would not go to Michigan.
Did ohio state play in a conference championship this year
Here’s a question why do they have conferences used to be regional thing that’s out the window. Isn’t it Maryland to ucla in the Big Ten, Arizona to Florida in the big 12 they had conferences for travel purposes, just saying
Every game is a playoff game, 2 losses and we’re done
Because if they win a bowl game they keep all the money and don’t have to split it with the conference.
I’ve had trouble confirming it, but Ross Delenger reports the 2026 deal makes Norte Dame an auto-bid if ranked 12th or higher, so would not get jumped by a lower-ranked conference champion. It doesn’t give the upside of sneaking in with a conference title, but secures against the downside Alabama experienced this year.
@@ColinEFlora-zh3py
All teams ranked 12 or higher get a bid, no?
@ No they do not. Because the top-5 ranked conference champions are in, any ranked outside the top 12 push a team out. This year, Alabama was ranked #11 and pushed out because Arizona State (12) and Clemson (16) were conference champions. As Ross Delinger reports it under the 2026 memorandum of understanding, if we swap ND and Bama in this year’s rankings, such that Alabama would be #5 and Notre Dame #11, the Irish would still be in, but Indiana (#10) would’ve been pushed out
@
Well that favors the conferences because you can lose your conference and still get a bid.
Maybe more teams should be like Notre Dame and become independent. If they would tried to force Notre Dame into a conference a million graduates from ND's law school would sue and win.