When the Big Ten turned college football upside down a few weeks ago by announcing they’d only be playing conference games in 2020, many wondered what the fallout would mean for Notre Dame if more conferences followed suit.
Sure enough the Pac-12 quickly announced the same and before you knew it, Notre Dame had lost three of their 12 scheduled opponents for 2020.
We thought right away that Notre Dame’s sweetheart deal with the ACC would provide the perfect life raft and even proposed a 10 game ACC schedule for the Irish.
Now one report has Notre Dame not just playing an ACC schedule but joining the conference for 2020.
ACC’s top scheduling model is 10 league games plus 1 nonconference foe, sources told @Stadium. In this format if Notre Dame plays 10 ACC teams, results would count in ACC standings, sources said. Unknown if ND could earn ACC’s Orange Bowl bid. This needs ACC presidential approval
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 24, 2020
I don’t see how you could have Notre Dame be a member of the conference for the year, allow them a chance to potentially play in the ACC Championship Game but not allow them the conference’s bid to the Organge Bowl if they did end up winning the league.
Listen, I’m as ant-conference as any follower of Notre Dame or college football has ever been. If it’s the only way to get games in 2020 though I’d be more than happy to it play out this way.
Think for a second how great it could be:
Notre Dame bashers get their wish and for one year the Irish are a member of the ACC. Then Notre Dame goes and wins the ACC that season, takes their Orange Bowl (or hopefully College Football Playoff) bid and then go back to independence in 2021.
If you’re wondering what the one non-conference game would be I would assume Notre Dame would either keep their annual deal with Navy as long as the AAC allows for out-of-conference games by its member schools. If not Navy then my money would be on Arkansas seeing as the ACC and SEC seem to have their heads largely in the same places in terms of getting football played this fall.
If Notre Dame ever had to join a conference for even the shortest amount of time this has the chance to be about as perfect as one could hope.