USC out, BYU in

[irishken]

People forget that ND moved their home game from late November to mid October because so cal didn't like the cold. One adjustment for them was enough.

 

[BilboBaggins]

When do you want us to join the Big Ten? Tomorrow?

Sounds like 2030 is the earliest. Sign me up for that.

 

[Dale]

Sounds like 2030 is the earliest. Sign me up for that.

I don’t think many of the people you’re calling out have an overall issue with joining that “Big Ten” because the “Big Ten” if that were to happen is not the current Big Ten. You would be talking about a likely blowup of the sport that is more akin to joining the NFC than joining a conference. Many like myself are pushing back on the idea of “just join the Big Ten already” being the 19th member of the current Big Ten, that would be dumb.

 

[T-Boone]

ND should be pretty appreciative of BYU scheduling this.
Lock them in yearly longer term if they want.

 

[BilboBaggins]

I don’t think many of the people you’re calling out have an overall issue with joining that “Big Ten” because the “Big Ten” if that were to happen is not the current Big Ten. You would be talking about a likely blowup of the sport that is more akin to joining the NFC than joining a conference. Many like myself are pushing back on the idea of “just join the Big Ten already” being the 19th member of the current Big Ten, that would be dumb.

I assume you mean that Notre Dame joining the Big Ten would mean that the ACC crumbles and the sport is changed forever? I think the ACC is toast regardless. There is enough room for three conferences with 20-24 members each. The Big Ten and SEC will be two of those conferences. Some version of the Big 12/ACC will be the third.

I think Notre Dame and USC have enough clout that if Notre Dame joined the Big Ten, that they could get the Big Ten to bring Stanford along with Notre Dame. So, in my view, they'd be the 19th and 20th members.

I also think a pod system makes sense with 20 members. Something like this:

A: USC, UCLA, Stanford, Notre Dame, Purdue
B: Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa
C: Ohio State, Michigan, Indiana, Northwestern, Michigan State
D: Penn State, Maryland, Rutgers, Nebraska, Illinois

And thats an existence I could live with. 9 conference games. Keep Navy, add one decent OOC, and one gimme OOC game.

Going beyond 20, to 24, is when things get truly insane.

 

[T-Boone]

ND should try to get Boise on again for 2026 - they need to fill spots on their schedule so do them a solid. In place of an ACC team.

 

[Canes4theWin]

Would you guys be interested in an annual matchup with Miami?

 

[ShamrockOnHelmet]

Would you guys be interested in an annual matchup with Miami?

I think we’ve all wanted that from the jump. Seems like Miami is the party that didn’t. 🤷‍♂️

 

[ColoradoIrish]

Would you guys be interested in an annual matchup with Miami?

Make it the rivalry week game every year. Sign me up

 

[Canes4theWin]

Make it the rivalry week game every year. Sign me up

That would be epic

 

[GATTACA!]

I assume you mean that Notre Dame joining the Big Ten would mean that the ACC crumbles and the sport is changed forever? I think the ACC is toast regardless. There is enough room for three conferences with 20-24 members each. The Big Ten and SEC will be two of those conferences. Some version of the Big 12/ACC will be the third.

I think Notre Dame and USC have enough clout that if Notre Dame joined the Big Ten, that they could get the Big Ten to bring Stanford along with Notre Dame. So, in my view, they'd be the 19th and 20th members.

I also think a pod system makes sense with 20 members. Something like this:

A: USC, UCLA, Stanford, Notre Dame, Purdue
B: Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa
C: Ohio State, Michigan, Indiana, Northwestern, Michigan State
D: Penn State, Maryland, Rutgers, Nebraska, Illinois

And thats an existence I could live with. 9 conference games. Keep Navy, add one decent OOC, and one gimme OOC game.

Going beyond 20, to 24, is when things get truly insane.

Fuck Stanford

 

[Dale]

I assume you mean that Notre Dame joining the Big Ten would mean that the ACC crumbles and the sport is changed forever? I think the ACC is toast regardless. There is enough room for three conferences with 20-24 members each. The Big Ten and SEC will be two of those conferences. Some version of the Big 12/ACC will be the third.

I think Notre Dame and USC have enough clout that if Notre Dame joined the Big Ten, that they could get the Big Ten to bring Stanford along with Notre Dame. So, in my view, they'd be the 19th and 20th members.

I also think a pod system makes sense with 20 members. Something like this:

A: USC, UCLA, Stanford, Notre Dame, Purdue
B: Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa
C: Ohio State, Michigan, Indiana, Northwestern, Michigan State
D: Penn State, Maryland, Rutgers, Nebraska, Illinois

And thats an existence I could live with. 9 conference games. Keep Navy, add one decent OOC, and one gimme OOC game.

Going beyond 20, to 24, is when things get truly insane.

This would have the Big Ten ceding UNC, FSU, Miami, and Clemson (+ everyone else) all to the SEC or Big 12 and become the smallest of the three conferences? I don’t see that happening. ND will likely move in lock step with multiple from that group.

 

[BilboBaggins]

The SEC is at 16, so they could add those four. That is what I think would happen. And then the rest would "figure it out" with the Big 12 but youll probably see the northeastern schools like Syracuse and Boston College get the Washington State treatment.

The best option is for Congres to call bullshit on all of this and come down with a hammer.

 

[BilboBaggins]

Fuck Stanford

Assuming conferences do not want to exceed 20 years... who would be the 20th members? Virginia? UNC? Miami?

 

[Dale]

The SEC is at 16, so they could add those four. That is what I think would happen. And then the rest would "figure it out" with the Big 12 but youll probably see the northeastern schools like Syracuse and Boston College get the Washington State treatment.

The best option is for Congres to call bullshit on all of this and come down with a hammer.

If those 4 are joining the SEC we should probably join the SEC then, it would be the clearly superior conference and get a significantly better TV deal than the Big Ten. If we’re gonna compromise independence, might as well get paid to do it.

 

[GATTACA!]

Assuming conferences do not want to exceed 20 years... who would be the 20th members? Virginia? UNC? Miami?

 

[phillyirish]

I think people are looking at this wrong. USC was already replaced, kudus to Pete and the administration having the foresight for locking in that 10+ year Clemson deal. BYU is just a stop gap for next year.

Next year the schedule looks meh, but in this era of CFB you can’t look at teams based on last years record with the portal overhauls.

Wisc, MSU, and even NC could be much improved. Miami probably won’t be a playoff team. I think SMU and BYU could potentially be 10+ win team which would be all we need, anybody.

 

[IrishInOntario]

A lot of people want ND to join a conference. That said, if I had to give up independence, I'd say "scew joining a conference, let's wield our power and build one". I think ND should act as a power broker, with the brand name teams in the ACC and branch out to do their own thing, strategically raiding some other conferences along the way. Build a 16 team conference that consists of a strategic mix of strong programs and important tv markets. Play 9 conference games and separate the conference into an East and West division. My conference would look as follows....

Notre Dame
Miami
Clemson
Florida State
Pitt
Boston College
Georgia Tech
Arizona
Arizona State
SMU
Houston
Stanford
Cal
Utah
BYU
Cincinnati

In terms of TV markets you'd have Chicago, Indiana, South Florida, North Florida, South Carolina, Atlanta, Pittsburgh / Philly, Boston, Pheonix, Tempe, Dallas, Houston, NorCal, SoCal, Cincinnati, Salt Lake City...

East Division
Notre Dame
Clemson
Miami
Florida State
Boston College
Pitt
Cincinnati
Georgia Tech

West Division
Arizona
Arizona State
Stanford
Cal
Utah
BYU
SMU
Houston

Each team plays a 9 game conference schedule, with 6 games coming from your division and 3 games coming from the other division. That would allow ND to still schedule Navy, as well as 2 games of their choice each year. With a 16 team conference there would also be a good variety in the teams you'd play year-to-year and ND would be able to maintain some of it's rivalries / regular opponents such as Miami, Boston College, Pittsburgh and Stanford, while playing coast-to-coast, in many of it's important recruiting hotbeds.

My first choice is always independence. That said, if I had to have ND join a conference, it wouldn't be an established one. Rather, it would be one in which ND was a powerful founding member, with some rules and perks in their favour.

 

[ACamp1900]

The reactions I’m seeing are wild,… yet again ND gets shafted, reacts and they’re the villains,… we really, REALLY need to win a natty bc at this point I see nothing else that will shut people up. This is all ND’s fault and we are pussies for wronging innocent SC all bc we can’t handle a real schedule, that’s essentially why this happened according to the outside world. Fucking hell

 

[ACamp1900]

I know a lot of LDS and BYU alums.

When they really want to misbehave, they drink Mountain Dew. Not joking in the least bit.

I guess I’m just from a ghetto area bc a lot of my childhood friends are LDS and many went to BYU,… almost all were the ones corrupting everyone growing up and today they’re all living good lives with families but definitely are not straight edge types,… at all. 🤷‍♂️

 

[GATTACA!]

The reactions I’m seeing are wild,… yet again ND gets shafted, reacts and they’re the villains,… we really, REALLY need to win a natty bc at this point I see nothing else that will shut people up. This is all ND’s fault and we are pussies for wronging innocent SC all bc we can’t handle a real schedule, that’s essentially why this happened according to the outside world. Fucking hell

The funny thing is the consensus amongst CFB fans at large is that super conferences are ruining the sport and stripping away everything we've loved about it forever..........until ND is the one poking those conferences in eye. Then suddenly we're the bad guys that think we deserve special treatment or something lol.

They hate us because we're special.

 

[ColoradoIrish]

The funny thing is the consensus amongst CFB fans at large is that super conferences are ruining the sport and stripping away everything we've loved about it forever..........until ND is the one poking those conferences in eye. Then suddenly we're the bad guys that think we deserve special treatment or something lol.

They hate us because we're special.

 

[Irishdwarte]

Bill Plaschke is a clown.

What an asshole. A lying asshole at that.

 

[Notre Dame Joe]

A lot of people want ND to join a conference. That said, if I had to give up independence, I'd say "scew joining a conference, let's wield our power and build one". I think ND should act as a power broker, with the brand name teams in the ACC and branch out to do their own thing, strategically raiding some other conferences along the way. Build a 16 team conference that consists of a strategic mix of strong programs and important tv markets. Play 9 conference games and separate the conference into an East and West division. My conference would look as follows....

Notre Dame
Miami
Clemson
Florida State
Pitt
Boston College
Georgia Tech
Arizona
Arizona State
SMU
Houston
Stanford
Cal
Utah
BYU
Cincinnati

In terms of TV markets you'd have Chicago, Indiana, South Florida, North Florida, South Carolina, Atlanta, Pittsburgh / Philly, Boston, Pheonix, Tempe, Dallas, Houston, NorCal, SoCal, Cincinnati, Salt Lake City...

East Division
Notre Dame
Clemson
Miami
Florida State
Boston College
Pitt
Cincinnati
Georgia Tech

West Division
Arizona
Arizona State
Stanford
Cal
Utah
BYU
SMU
Houston

Each team plays a 9 game conference schedule, with 6 games coming from your division and 3 games coming from the other division. That would allow ND to still schedule Navy, as well as 2 games of their choice each year. With a 16 team conference there would also be a good variety in the teams you'd play year-to-year and ND would be able to maintain some of it's rivalries / regular opponents such as Miami, Boston College, Pittsburgh and Stanford, while playing coast-to-coast, in many of it's important recruiting hotbeds.

My first choice is always independence. That said, if I had to have ND join a conference, it wouldn't be an established one. Rather, it would be one in which ND was a powerful founding member, with some rules and perks in their favour.

Wait have you always been here or just the last year? - tbonesays.

 

[Notre Dame Joe]

Would you guys be interested in an annual matchup with Miami?

a reasonable idea. I would prefer to rotate the Florida schools if they would agree. UF Gators likely would not.

 

[stlnd01]

a reasonable idea. I would prefer to rotate the Florida schools if they would agree. UF Gators likely would not.

To their credit, Florida already plays Miami and Florida State, plus an SEC schedule that includes an annual game with Georgia.

I think if we could get our heads around the idea of hosting on Thanksgiving weekend half the time, an annual Miami season-ender would be awesome. They don't have anyone they traditionally play that weekend.

 

[T-Boone]

Wait have you always been here or just the last year? - tbonesays.

Is this a shout out to me, or am i losing it?

 

[stlnd01]

A lot of people want ND to join a conference. That said, if I had to give up independence, I'd say "scew joining a conference, let's wield our power and build one". I think ND should act as a power broker, with the brand name teams in the ACC and branch out to do their own thing, strategically raiding some other conferences along the way. Build a 16 team conference that consists of a strategic mix of strong programs and important tv markets. Play 9 conference games and separate the conference into an East and West division. My conference would look as follows....

Notre Dame
Miami
Clemson
Florida State
Pitt
Boston College
Georgia Tech
Arizona
Arizona State
SMU
Houston
Stanford
Cal
Utah
BYU
Cincinnati

I think if we're going to build our own conference, I'd want the other biggest programs to have a little more juice than Miami/Clemson/FSU. Think bigger.
Drive a wedge between the Big 10 and USC over the private equity deal, and peel off them and UCLA.
You think Texas really likes being one of a half-dozen heavyweights in the SEC? In their hearts, they do not. Pluck them and maybe Oklahoma comes along for the ride.
Penn State was independent once. Why not again? They're never gonna win the Big Ten anyway.
Then you blow up the ACC and take the best of them (UNC > FSU). And, sure, BYU. Why not get all those young Mormon fans.

Notre Dame
Clemson
Miami
UNC
USC
UCLA
Texas
Oklahoma
Penn State
BYU

Ten teams. Nine-game conference schedule. Big games coast to coast every damn week. Call it the Conference of Champions. College football the way it ought to be. Brought to you by Notre Dame.
Sure everyone's gonna go 5-4 but we'd all watch the hell out of it.

 

[burmafrd1944]

I have reached the point where I say WE WILL GIVE UP FOOTBALL BEFORE WE JOIN A CONFERENCE

Give the middle finger to everyone

say we will play all of you fat cats

show up or show yellow

 

[Dale]