With ACC Media Days underway, this also is the time for the man at the head of the conference to speak out. Commissioner Jim Phillips took the podium in Charlotte and faced his annual round of questioning from assembled media.
At some point during the day, Phillips was asked about Notre Dame’s independence. He is on record as saying he wants the Irish to join the conference for football, and he had this response according to Brandon Marcello of 247Sports:
ACC commish Jim Phillips: "We've had a lot of conversations, let me put it bluntly, with Notre Dame, and they've been very clear. They value their independence, and I think they feel strongly that that will continue well into the future."
— Brandon Marcello (@bmarcello) July 26, 2023
With the SEC and Big Ten on the verge of becoming super conferences, the question of whether the Irish will stay independent becomes more relevant than before. It will be interesting to see how long the program can keep this going before the deck becomes stacked against it enough that joining a conference is the only option.
While many Irish fans don’t want to think about being in a conference, nothing is off the table anymore. Money talks, and the Irish might eventually have to bite the bullet to stay relevant in college football.
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