ND is showing no signs that it wants to join a conference
All throughout the web there is speculation regarding Notre Dame’s intentions as conference expansion talks loom. It’s no secret that the school, the boosters, and Coach Kelly want to disassociate themselves with any conference talk. The one telling fact that would indicate ND has no intentions of joining a conference is their future scheduling.
Notre Dame and Miami are currently inking a 3 game deal. Pittsburgh, Oklahoma, and Brigham Young are playing a home-and-home series against the Irish in 2012 and 2013 and Arizona State (2012) just jumped into the scheduling mix. If ND was going to join a conference in the near future the school wouldn’t be so eager to schedule high profile teams up until 2016.
ND enjoys the revenue generated from NBC but further enjoys its exclusivity. The only immediate problem with ND remaining independent is that all their other sports will suffer as they are affiliated with the Big East. If the Big East pulls the plug, then the Irish may panic with respect to every other sport. As of now, at least for the football team, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is too much to give up and every Irish athletic program depends on the football team’s generated gold.
