November 13, 2003

Notre Dame to the ACC? : Or maybe the Big 10? Apparently the Irish are getting a little worried about dance partners.

posted by kloeprich to football at 05:33 PM - 3 comments

As long as they have a decent situation in the Big East for basketball et al and the huge solo football TV contract, why would they join any conference? I doubt the BCS would make a spot any more difficult for them to attain in the next contract than now and they probably have nearly as much clout as any single conference in determining the shape of that deal.

posted by billsaysthis at 05:58 PM on November 13, 2003

I've read that ND's recent football failings have endangered their BCS exemption. The threat of that would go a ways toward explaining why they would join a conference.

posted by kloeprich at 06:18 PM on November 13, 2003

Not just their BCS exemption, but also their TV contract. They are screwed, long term. To paraphrase someone on my favorite Duke site, the ACC might as well just go all the way and expand to 16 teams:

Bring in Notre Dame, Syracuse, West Virginia and Penn State, giving the ACC 16 teams. Divide into two divisions. One division has Duke, UNC, NC State, Wake Forest, Maryland, Virginia, Clemson, and Georgia Tech. Call this, oh I don't know, say the ACC Division. Double round-robin in hoops, round robin in football. Call the other division, let us say, the Big East Division. Same deal. Champions meet in football, 16-team basketball conference tournament which would be over in 4-days.
Seems reasonable to me...

posted by tieguy at 06:24 PM on November 13, 2003

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