The new hot rumor is that:
1. ND has already indicated to the ACC that they are exploring options and will pay them $0 if/when they leave because they violated some non-disparagement clause.
2. There is more than just "mean tweets"... allegedly there was some funny business in the room from SEC-aligned and ACC-aligned people to put Bama/Miami in. One for me, one for you. And ND thinks they'll be able to walk away from ACC (should they find a suitable dance partner) without this going to court because ESPN/ACC/etc. won't want embarrassing stuff coming out in depositions. I sorta have a hard time believing this, but there have also been a lot of cryptic comments the past two days alluding to collusion or it "being worse than you think."
All of this could be made up, don't shoot the messenger.
Exposing this collusion could destroy the "committee" system. I've said this a bunch of times, but we need a BCS-style computer system for the rankings. For heaven's sake, we were the highest ranked 10-2 team in the AP poll, coaches poll, and all the advanced stat rankings. But we're the fourth 10-2 team in the committee rankings? And randomly drop because of Bama's "gutsy" luck in beating Auburn and its -3 yards rushing performance vs. Georgia? The whole thing was so bizarre and insane that I can't imagine something dirty didn't go down.
I try to avoid saying it's all about the money. But here, it's probably 90% about the money. ND will always get screwed by a committee system where half the members have a financial incentive to keep ND out because they are ADs at schools that will get a payout if an SEC or ACC (or, maybe in the future, Big 10 or Big 12) team gets in but will get nothing if ND gets in. In fairness to the SEC, my understanding is they would accept a top 12 or top 16 field, although I don't know how that would be ranked. Removing auto-bids helps ND because we cannot get one, but it doesn't fix the committee problem.
