http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoo...ndependent-luster-should-join-conference-soon
More and more people seem to be calling for ND to join a conference. CBS Sports writer Dennis Dodd is the latest.
Forget 11-1 and a playoff berth for a moment. Simple math tells you the Irish will be questionable this season for a New Year's Six bowl at 10-2. There's the possibility of there being only two available spots in 2015 -- one each in the Peach and Fiesta Bowls.
The other 10 spots would be taken up the four playoff teams as well as representatives from the SEC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12, ACC and the automatic Group of Five team.
It's entirely possible that Boise State gets a guaranteed spot at 10-2. With the same record, Notre Dame could be left wishing.
That scenario alone is why the Irish will finally join a conference sooner rather than later. Don't ask me how that lucrative NBC contract would be folded in. That's fine print.
If Notre Dame made the all-in call to ACC commissioner John Swofford tomorrow, the details would be worked out pronto. As it stands, being half pregnant in the ACC isn't enough. Being left out is too much.
This column would not have been written unless that tipping point was imminent.
More and more people seem to be calling for ND to join a conference. CBS Sports writer Dennis Dodd is the latest.
Forget 11-1 and a playoff berth for a moment. Simple math tells you the Irish will be questionable this season for a New Year's Six bowl at 10-2. There's the possibility of there being only two available spots in 2015 -- one each in the Peach and Fiesta Bowls.
The other 10 spots would be taken up the four playoff teams as well as representatives from the SEC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12, ACC and the automatic Group of Five team.
It's entirely possible that Boise State gets a guaranteed spot at 10-2. With the same record, Notre Dame could be left wishing.
That scenario alone is why the Irish will finally join a conference sooner rather than later. Don't ask me how that lucrative NBC contract would be folded in. That's fine print.
If Notre Dame made the all-in call to ACC commissioner John Swofford tomorrow, the details would be worked out pronto. As it stands, being half pregnant in the ACC isn't enough. Being left out is too much.
This column would not have been written unless that tipping point was imminent.
