Notre Dame Football: Not being in Power Five conference kills Irish in big game

After seeing Notre Dame football and their 12-0 record exposed by Clemson in the Cotton Bowl, it is easy to throw more logs on the proverbial fire.

But in all honesty, the biggest issue facing the Irish and Brian Kelly in these big-time games stems from not competing in a Power 5 conference.

Yes, the Notre Dame schedule is a daunting one with the likes of Michigan, Stanford and USC on it yearly, but when those games take place – for the most part – most of those schools are locked in tight league battles with other rivals. The Irish never have to worry about that.

Instead, all that they are concerned with is trying to win and trying to remain unbeaten – or as close to possible – as they can to earn a high ranking and marquee bowl contest.

The Wolverines, Cardinal, Trojans and others are constantly worried about that next team on the schedule just as much as focusing in on Notre Dame and that week in terms of prep work and practice.

For many of the top teams in the country, you have the pre-conference slate of games that typically determine if you are going to be a contender for the College Football Playoff or not. Sure, you might be able to make a run at it if you are in the SEC should you suffer an early loss, but for most, those games are for figuring out the little things before working to win a league title.

When Notre Dame played Northwestern in early November, the focus for the Wildcats was on winning their Big Ten divisional title. While a victory over the Irish would have been great, Pat Fitzgerald was concerned mostly with a game the following week against Iowa that eventually allowed them to seal the deal and play for the conference title.

Look at Notre Dame’s most recent foe in Clemson. The toughest game the Tigers had this year came in their conference schedule against Syracuse, a contest in which head coach Dabo Swinney credits greatly for his team growing up and becoming the squad they are today.

Imagine if the Irish fully-joined the ACC and had those kind of meaningful games during October and November. How much better prepared would they be to go up against the elite of the elite on the yearly basis?