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It may seem like a natural fit for Notre Dame football to join the Big Ten, top academics and athletics with a Midwest home and national reach, but the Irish have no current reason for make a move.
The conference is leaving the door open for Notre Dame to enter, along with the SEC and lawmakers who are proposing a league cap at nineteen teams, but there’s a bit of a caveat. There would be a provision that would allow a team to join but would have “to operate as an independent for five years” as reported by Yahoo Sports Ross Dellenger.
That is a very specific clause that the two power conferences have added, as the most obvious team that the rule is targeting is Notre Dame. As with many of these idea, this one just doesn’t make any sense for the Irish to do. With the NBC TV deal, all of the revenue is heading to the school, along with bowl games. Having to split that with other schools in a conference wouldn’t help Notre Dame’s athletic department, as the funds would be significantly cut.
Not only that, the Irish would lose its flexibility to schedule whoever they please, as there already is a solid Big Ten presence, and more SEC teams will be adding Notre Dame to their future slates. It does make sense for the conferences to leave an avenue for the Irish to join, but at this current moment, with the way college football is heading, there is no need for Notre Dame to deviate from how the football team operates right now.
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This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: The Big Ten once again leaves its door cracked for Notre Dame to join
