CFB insider makes case for Notre Dame to join Big Ten expansion amid rumors of ACC & SEC targetting Fighting Irish
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish has become the most wanted team in college football. In the age of mass conference expansion, where could the Fighting Irish end up, and could it be the Big Ten?
College football analyst Greg McElroy believes that the Big Ten conference's expansion should not end with the four PAC-12 teams joining them at the end of the month. He thinks that they should target another program to join them.
McElroy mentioned which program this should be on the Always College Football podcast this Wednesday.
"The No. 1 team that they would target would be Notre Dame, Notre Dame by a mile.”
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have stayed away from any of the mass realignments that have been seen in college football over the last few years.
Notre Dame are an independent program so they have no ties to any conference. Every other program's schedule has three or four non-conference opponents and then a competitive in-conference schedule. But Notre Dame does not have this, and generally play a mixture of teams throughout the season.
However, the Fighting Irish have an agreement with the ACC, meaning that Notre Dame face five of the conference programs a year. This is the closest thing they have to a conference. But for the ACC teams, their games against Notre Dame are seen as non-conference, and do not have an impact on the conference standings.
Using this, it would be logical for Notre Dame to join the ACC, as they already have ties to the conference. However, with the ACC's two biggest football programs (Clemson and Florida State) wanting to leave, joining the ACC will not help Notre Dame.
Could Notre Dame actually join the Big Ten?
The Big Ten Conference would be a perfect destination for the Fighting Irish if they were to join a conference. The program is talented enough to immediately be competitive, and their brand is strong enough to survive when thrown in with the likes of Ohio State and Michigan.
However, if this was to happen, the conference would have three teams from the state of Indiana. This may cause problems for the state's two other teams, the Indiana Hoosiers and the Purdue Boilermakers. These two may not want a far stronger rival to be right on their doorstep.
However, Greg McElroy does not see this as a problem.
"Notre Dame is everyone's No. 1. Now, like I said, would that be repetitive in the state of Indiana? You already have Indiana and you already have Purdue? Doesn't matter. You want Notre Dame."
Every fan and analyst can talk about which conference would suit Notre Dame and how they would fare. But the people who will ultimately make the decision are not interested in any form of moving from the current situation Notre Dame is in.
Notre Dame's athletic director Pete Bevacqua told ESPN last year that:
"We are now in as good of a position as we've ever been in the modern era of college football to be an independent. You see all the conference realignment, you see everything that's happened. I think our position as being independent in football, quite frankly is certainly more unique than ever, but also more valuable than ever."
The independent status of Notre Dame benefits them, and they have no intention of giving this up.