Notre Dame has entered the realignment chat.
On Wednesday, Action Network's Brett McMurphy reported that Notre Dame – which has a five-game arrangement for football with the ACC and is a full-voting member — is part of the movement to add Stanford and Cal to the conference.
"Notre Dame initiated us bringing on Stanford and Cal and continues to push, yet Notre Dame won't join the ACC as a full-time member," an ACC source told McMurphy. "That doesn't make sense to us."
We can make sense of it. In this case – they are pushing for moves that will help ensure the long-term health of the ACC is more than just the Grant of Rights deal that runs through 2036.
So, what are Notre Dame's motives? We make sense of the Irish pushing for ACC expansion:
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Is Notre Dame trying to join ACC in football?
No. ACC commissioner Jim Phillips addressed that at the ACC Media Days in July.
"We've had a lot of conversations, let me put it bluntly, with Notre Dame, and they've been very clear," Phillips said. “They value their independence, and I think they feel strongly that that will continue well into the future."
Former ACC commissioner John Swofford gave the same line with Notre Dame in an interview with SN in 2019.
"If Notre Dame reached a point where they were interested to join in football, we would readily have that conversation," Swofford told Sporting News. "I don't expect that to happen. When we made the arrangement with Notre Dame, some people thought, 'Well it's just a matter of time in football.' I've never really thought that."
That's two commissioners delivering the same message. That's not the angle Notre Dame is working here.
Why does Notre Dame care about ACC expansion?
The long-term health of the ACC benefits Notre Dame, which has affirmed its desire to stay independent. Notre Dame has played a rotation of ACC schools since 2014 — and the Irish are 40-10 (.800) in those games. In 2020, ND joined the ACC during the COVID-19 pandemic for one season, and went 9-0 before losing the ACC championship game to Clemson.
The arrangement allows the Irish to stay independent – and competitive – in the College Football Playoff landscape. The overall health of the ACC makes that possible.
While the ACC has not made any moves in the latest round of realignment, Florida State trustee Drew Weatherford caused a stir when he said, “It's not a matter of if we leave (the ACC), but how and when we leave."
Revenue distribution has been a hot topic with the Seminoles, and that Grant of Rights deal that runs through 2036 has been questioned as a result. According to the Associated Press, the ACC's most recent average distribution per school was under $40 million, which ranks fourth among the Power Five conferences.
Adding Stanford, Cal and even SMU – which desperately wants in a power conference – would do that while pushing the ACC to 18 schools. That would match the Big Ten and likely appease Florida State and Clemson – at least in the short term.
Why does Notre Dame care that ACC survives?
Former Notre Dame athletic Jack Swarbrick gave an answer to ESPN's Heather Dinich that makes sense:
ND AD Jack Swarbrick told me the reason they advocated for Cal and Stanford was because “The notion that two of the very best academic institutions in the world who also play D1 sports could be abandoned in this latest chapter of realignment is an indictment of college athletics. https://t.co/b3rhc6Bd2A
— Heather Dinich (@CFBHeather) August 10, 2023
That's one description, of course.
There are ulterior motives at work. It benefits Notre Dame for Florida State and Clemson to stay in the ACC, of course. It also helps Notre Dame if Stanford – one of its traditional rivals – does not go to the Big Ten.
At that point, the Big Ten would have USC, Stanford, Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue – pretty much everyone with the exception of Army and Navy that Notre Dame could even begin to call a traditional rival. Could the Big Ten apply pressure on the Irish at that point?
It comes down to College Football Playoff access, too. In the current 12-team CFP setup, the Irish can make the playoff as an at-large team despite not playing in a conference championship game. Notre Dame cannot get a first-round bye, however. As long as the ACC is considered a power conference, then the Irish's playoff path will not change much. In other words, they do not need to be in the Big Ten or SEC yet.
The ACC being viable keeps the CFP open
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How do TV deals impact Notre Dame?
Notre Dame will be seeking to triple its football rights fees to $65 million to $75 million annually during its next cycle of media negotiations when its current NBC contract expires in 2024. If the Irish can secure that money, then they likely will stay independent.
The Irish's new athletic director, Peter Bevacqua, is a Notre Dame alum and former NBC Sports chairman. There is no way with that background that an adversarial relationship with the Big Ten happens.
Notre Dame has scheduled matchups against Purdue (2024-28), Michigan State (2026-27), Indiana (2030-31) and Michigan (2033-24), and you can expect that relationship to lead to more matchups. Essentially, if the Irish get the right number in the TV deal, they can fill their schedule with ACC and Big Ten opponents and still make the CFP.
Is Notre Dame doing the right thing?
Notre Dame is doing what is best for Notre Dame, and Swarbrick outlined those factors to Dinich.
Swarbrick has said repeatedly 3 factors influence their independent status: loss of broadcast partner; inadequate home for Olympic sports; loss of fair route to postseason. None of which is on the horizon.
— Heather Dinich (@CFBHeather) August 10, 2023
The Irish have won national championships in women’s basketball and men’s lacrosse, men’s soccer and fencing since joining the ACC, and has made the College Football Playoff twice.
It’s still about that football relationship. The fact that Notre Dame is a full voting member in the ACC despite a half-in arrangement in football will come under more scrutiny if Stanford, Cal and perhaps SMU join the conference – and it flops. Still, the Irish trying to contribute to the health of a power conference cannot be seen as a bad thing, not after what the Pac-12 last week.
Perhaps that makes the most sense of all.
