Notre Dame Must Join A Conference Arguments Are Weak and Lazy
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Recently I had a chance to have a debate about Notre Dame, and the initial topic was whether or not the Irish should join a conference. It is a topic that continues to come up, whether it's Notre Dame fans being responded to with "Join a conference" every time a fan of another team has nothing worthwhile to say, or national analysts trying to argue that Notre Dame somehow has an advantage due to its independence.
It's a tired, lazy conversation that says more about the people calling Notre Dame to join a conference than it does about the Irish, or their independence. I discuss these lazy arguments in this video.
In the Notre Dame vs Miami debate I had, in which this topic was brought up, my first question was "Why?" Why does Notre Dame have to join a conference? Most just respond with, "Well, just cause" and they don't have a real argument to make. They view Notre Dame's independence as some sort of special carve out, or special exception, that Notre Dame gets that other programs don't get. The irony of this topic coming up in a debate about Notre Dame and Miami was not lost on me, considering that Miami was once an independent powerhouse. In fact, four of Miami's five national championships came while they were an independent. The league they were in when they won their fifth national title no longer exists for football.
In 1988, Notre Dame won the national championship as an independent. That season the No. 2 (Miami), No. 3 (Florida State), No. 5 (West Virginia) and No. 13 (Syracuse) teams were all independent football teams. Within five seasons the number of independents was down to just 10 teams, which included Notre Dame. All the dominant independent teams from the 1980s were now members of a conference.
What happened? All those teams CHOSE to join a conference. There were no rules changes in CFB, no demands from a governing body demanding teams join a conference, requiring Notre Dame to file for some sort of exemption. It was a choice, they chose to join a conference while Notre Dame chose to remain an independent. Now, all those teams and fan bases want to force Notre Dame into a league. Their teams weren't forced into a league, well, at least not directly.
So why did all those teams seek conference affiliation? That answer is quite simple.
TV money.
As TV revenue started to dominate the sport in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the vast majority of the independent teams were scrambling to find a conference. Teams were chasing stability from a conference, and that stability was centered around growing TV deals were either being signed, or were being pursued, thanks to the 1984 Supreme Court case (NCAA vs. University of Oklahoma Board of Regents) and the continued lack of power from the College Football Association. Prior to that Supreme Court case the NCAA decided who would be on TV and how the revenue would be distributed. Following that court case the CFA gained more power to make those decisions, but it wasn't a strong entity and it was only a matter of time before conferences started signing their own deals.
Notre Dame struck the first blow when it signed an exclusive deal with NBC in 1990. There were no exceptions for Notre Dame, no carve outs, no exemptions, no special favors. If Miami, Penn State or Florida State were able to get a TV deal to remain independent, one that would allow them to compete on the national stage, you can bet they would have jumped at the chance. Those offers didn't come, or at least the offers that did come weren't as attractive to those institutions as was the option of joining a conference.
The Nittany Lions announced in 1990 they were leaving for the Big Ten, which had a deal to have its games shown on CBS. Miami announced later that year they were leaving for the Big East. In 1991, Florida State announced they were leaving for the ACC.
What is the reason for the conference expansion the last decade? Why did Nebraska leave the Big 8 for the Big 10? Why did Arkansas and Missouri leave the SWC and Big 12 for the SEC? Why did Texas A&M leave the Big 12 for the SEC? Why did Texas and Oklahoma leave the Big 12 for the SEC? Why did USC, Oregon, Washington and UCLA blow up the Pac 12 to join the Big 10?
Simple. TV money.
There's no more virtuous reason than that, and anyone that tries to tell you the conferences look the way they do today for any other reason than they wanted better TV deals they are either lying to you are they are utterly clueless as to why we have seen so much movement the last 20 years.
The Big Ten now has 18 teams.
The Big 12 now has 16 teams.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is up to 17 teams and now has programs that border the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of America.
The Southeastern Conference is up to 16 teams and now has programs from the Southwestern part of the United States.
The Pac 12 basically died and is being "rebuilt" with teams like Washington State, Oregon State, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Texas State and others.
The Big East is dead as a football conference.
The Southwest Conference is completely dead.
I keep hearing fans whine about how much things have changed and how we need to fix things and we wish we could go back to the way it was.
Well, one thing has never changed. One program is doing the same thing now it was 40 years ago, 60 years ago, 80 years ago. That program is Notre Dame.
So no, I don't want to hear the argument that it's unfair for Notre Dame to be in a conference. If being independent gives teams an advantage, why don't more teams do it?
Oh, well Notre Dame plays a cupcake schedule. Really? If you're an Ohio State I'll listen to you complain about Notre Dame's schedule in 2026, but there aren't many teams that have a very good argument. The giant conferences have created ridiculously unbalanced schedules. Michigan and Indiana have won national titles in recent seasons with embarrassingly soft schedules, and both the Hoosiers and Penn State have absolutely joke non-conference schedules.
It's even funnier to listen to Miami fans talk about Notre Dame's "cupcake" schedule, considering that Miami is on that schedule and half the schedule is made up of teams from Miami's conference. Notre Dame plays two of the last three ACC teams to make the College Football Playoff, and it also has to play BYU, a team that all these same fans say the Irish ducked in the Pop Tarts Bowl.
Go look at Miami's schedule. What's their second toughest game after Notre Dame? Duke? Wake Forest? Florida State? When you have one opponent that won more than nine games last season, and that one opponent is Notre Dame, you can miss me with complaining about Notre Dame's schedule. When Notre Dame plays more Power 4 opponents than Indiana, USC, Penn State, Washington and Nebraska, and the same number as every other Big Ten team the argument about Notre Dame's "scheduling advantages" gets thrown out the window.
Oh wait, there's the "Well it's not fair that they get to sit at home championship weekend while conference teams are playing games." Did I miss the announcement that all conference teams are now playing championship weekend? I don't remember watching Ohio State playing during championship weekend in 2024, and I don't remember Oregon, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Oklahoma or Miami playing during championship weekend this season. So when the playoff is made of ONLY teams that play in conference championship games you can come and talk to me, but until then just accept the real reason why you are made at Notre Dame for being independent.
As the legend Lou Holtz once said, "It's not complicated, we're Notre Dame, and you ain't."
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