Notre Dame football has been an Independent for too long. It is time for the Irish to finally make a change and join a conference.
In college football, conferences mean everything. Being a team in the Power Five gives you a step ahead of other teams. You face tougher competition, bring more people to games, and become more likely to play in a quality bowl game. The exception to this rule in recent memory has been the men on the Notre Dame football team.
Notre Dame has been independent for decades, but that needs to change. The Fighting Irish have been successful, but they must have a perfect season now to make it to the College Football Playoff. If they had a conference championship, they could make it to the playoff with a mistake along the way.
Although Notre Dame is based in the heart of the Big Ten, the rest of its sports programs are in the ACC. Notre Dame football should follow suit. The ACC could use them to battle against Clemson, and Notre Dame would get all the benefits of being in a big conference.
I know being independent from all conferences has its benefits. Notre Dame gets a lot of freedom to schedule who they play. If they need to rebuild, they don’t have to play the same powerhouse teams every year. However, if you want to be one of the best teams in the country, you need a strong conference schedule.
Being independent works for smaller school, but Notre Dame’s expectations have grown too high for it to work anymore. If they join the ACC, they would get to compete for ACC Championships, have higher chances to play in key bowl games, and get more room for error in the regular season.
If Notre Dame could keep their rivalry games in their non-conference schedule, joining the ACC in all sports is certainly worth it. I’m not sure if this will ever happen, but it would be better for both the Fighting Irish and the college football landscape.