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September 12, 2012

Anyone remember this?

“I don’t understand it,” Jack Swarbrick said as a new round of conference hopping in college athletics moved into high gear Sunday. “How do you vote as a collegiate president on something that has the potential to provide some benefit for your institution and the conference you’re affiliated with but has a very negative consequence for a host of other members of the academy, as presidents like to call it?

“I’d like to know how much of these discussions are: What’s right? What is the best thing for the larger enterprise, and how many other schools would be adversely impacted?

“I just don’t know that that’s happening.”

Yes, the ND AD complaining about the selfish behavior of Pitt and Syracuse moving to the ACC. He and his institution are so far above such crass things. They would never make a move out of no where without giving their present partners a fair notice. Notre Dame’s president put his money-where-Swarbrick’s-mouth was. Why, Rev. Jenkins even headed up the Big East expansion committee. So you know they wouldn’t act against the best interests of the Big East while helping to make big decisions.

Oh, what’s that?

The University of Notre Dame accepted an invitation today (Sept. 12) to become a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in all sports except football.

That exception for football was even in the sub-headline of the press release, “Football to stay independent but will bring five games annually to ACC.”

Even as I type this, there is a presser going on on UNC’s campus where the President and AD of Notre Dame are there with ACC honchos trumpeting the move. I’m sure you were nice enough to let the Big East offices in Providence know about this weeks in advance.

I’m surprised. I didn’t see this coming. At least not this quickly. I figured this would be a slow dance of a couple years before this took place.

The key part of this is getting ND to guarantee five ACC games a year. As I have — and others  as well — this is relatively easy for ND considering their long history with BC, Cuse and Pitt. From what I understand, though, the agreement is that the Irish will have to play all of the ACC teams within a set time frame. That means it is likely that Pitt-ND will continue, but not uninterrupted.

Not surprisingly, ND fans are happy with the move. Even if they have to play five whole games against the ACC.

The issue moving forward was always going to be finding a way for Notre Dame to always have a tough enough schedule in the coming Era of Playoffs to garner support to the big dance. Swarbrick has done a good job maintaining and strengthening the ND football schedule, but he still faces a lot of issues and problems filling out an independent schedule.

Now, he’ll be locked into 5 games in the ACC (the rumor is that ND will play every ACC team once every 3 seasons) and that will give him time to focus on filling out the final 7 games on the schedule.

And when you look at it like that…7 games is nothing to sneeze at. It leaves room to keep most of Notre Dame’s traditional rivalries and seek out a couple “new” games outside of the usual suspects.

The Big East and ND had an informal agreement where the Irish would play a few Big East teams every year. The difference, was that ND got to choose and work it out. So, easy for Pitt. But with UConn, the Huskies had to agree to their “home” game taking place in Foxboro, Massachusetts. And the Rutgers series fell apart because Rutgers insisted on playing at their real home stadium, not the Medowlands.

This is in the contract and the games will be scheduled. In that respect it is something of a significant step for ND.

In fact, it seems that those five games were important to help ND with scheduling.

As other conferences grew in size – the SEC expanded to 14 teams, the Pac-12 and Big 10 went to 12 – so too did the threat that the Irish couldn’t just pick and choose opponents, especially in October and November, as they always have. The other conferences might go to nine league games (as the Pac 12 already does), eliminating one slot for a tough non-conference opponent. Earlier this year, the Big Ten and Pac-12 set up a scheduling agreement that concerned Notre Dame – although it later fell apart when the Pac-12 pulled out.

Notre Dame currently must schedule all of its 12 games per year. This drops to seven games with the ACC scheduling the other five. ACC teams will likely be featured during the more challenging dates later in the season. It’s a far easier task.

“People don’t realize how difficult it is,” the source said. “The outlook was very challenging. If the Big Ten does move to a nine-game league schedule down the line, and it could be 10 years from now, can we still count on getting Purdue, Michigan State and Michigan all in a row? And late October and November kept growing tougher.”

I’m not wild about this. I wanted no more partial memberships. I get the argument that this more formal football arrangement will be more likely to pave the way for full membership. But, I don’t buy it. It will still take years before the ND base would tolerate the move.

As with the Big East, the Irish now have access to ACC bowls. This despite also being part of the roster to possibly play the ACC Champ in the Orange Bowl. The Irish will have the potential to leapfrog ACC teams. If the Irish are within one win of the ACC team, the bowl can pick the Irish. Can’t wait for other schools to get that experience.

Yet, even that is a slight improvement over the Big East deal. In the Big East, the Irish only had to be within two wins of another school to be selected over them.

Two other things of note. Getting ND, and the guaranteed 5 games means yet another tweak to the ACC TV  Deal. Roughly projected at another $2 million per school.

More importantly, from the ACC press release. This:

In addition to extending an invitation to Notre Dame, the Council of Presidents voted to increase the conference exit fees to three times the annual operating budget. Currently this would equate to an exit fee of over $50 million.

[Emphasis added.]

Huge. That’s a tremendous stabilizing force on the conference. The $20 million exit fee was prohibitive enough. This puts an end to things when it goes into effect.

Now the bigger deal





Interesting indeed. Not sure that I would agree to having ND in some but not all sports but hey.

I like the positives
1) extra 2M per ACC team per year in amending TV deal
2) 50M exit fee for schools from ACC (stability)

The reality is that if PITT doesnt get ND every year then we can add WVU on the off year.
Not bad for PITT and we can use the extra 2M per year.

Comment by Pitt fan in Atlanta 09.12.12 @ 2:11 pm

PITT could work out a ND, hoopie and Ped State 3 yr schedule.

Comment by Pittastic 09.12.12 @ 2:15 pm

I feel like $50mil will keep people in the conference for a long, long time. Which given everything that FSU and Clemson talked about this past spring/summer will make the ACC as well as other conferences ability to grab teams out of the ACC slim down a bit.

Also, poor Big 12. They wanted ND so badly, I guess they can go out and grab another team. Maybe LV? or Cincy?

Comment by Benzene 09.12.12 @ 2:16 pm

What has been Lou Holtz’s reaction. Remember him whining about hurting other institutions when Pitt and ‘Cuse left? How can ND justify leaving his little boy and USF behind?

Comment by apm74 09.12.12 @ 2:25 pm

ACC deal doesnt seem so bad afterwards. Would have been interesting to see where ND ended up had PITT and SU gone to B12.
PITT has secured its position for a long time. UCONN, Rutgers, Louisville, and CINCY just got another body blow. Hope that the former two can survive

Comment by Pitt fan in Atlanta 09.12.12 @ 2:30 pm

Please tell me that the f’ing Irish did not get a BCS bowl deal like they had when they were part of the Big Least

Comment by jim 09.12.12 @ 3:05 pm

Sorry did not read whole post deal in place

Comment by jim 09.12.12 @ 3:07 pm

Sad for UCONN fans. Almost there, right there, on the precipice, deal just didn’t get closed far enough for them. Now, they shall languish in the BE. Would have like them with ND, hoops rivalry would continue, and I could live with their football in a 16 team ACC.

Comment by Dan 09.12.12 @ 3:23 pm

Based on what I have seen this is a very nice arrangement for everyone and will provide a big boost for the ACC. ND is essentially a full-member for all and a partial member for football. They play a five game vs. nine game football schedule and share bowl tie-ins yet they share in no football revenue (which is 80% of ACC revenue). Each team is expected to get a $2 million per year boost in media $$$ as a result. Win-win.

Comment by FG 09.12.12 @ 3:31 pm

Still don’t like it. Like the 50M buyout, cements the league, pretty much ends all poaching.

Why Swofford couldn’t close the deal??

IMHO, watching all of this crap for years, reading every article, what every person was saying, including fans, olympic sport coaches, professors, big money football, I came to a few
conclusions…….

ND would never, ever go to the Big 12. Fan base was against it, would not have their olympic sports going all over God’s creation, let alone the travel expense aspect.

Couldn’t ever see ND going to Big 10. The more you read about that, the more you saw, the Big 10 was never going to offer again, ND would have had to ask. A lot of their alumni are on the East Coast. They wanted a national following, would not become just another Mid-Western school.

Were definitely not going to leave all other sports flutter in the wind of the BE. Anyone who has followed this stuff, could see that writing on the wall, from all ND people involved.

So, they needed a home for the olympic sports, there was one, and only one real choice. The ACC.

Knowing this, why Swofford couldn’t turn the screws just a little more and seal the deal??

Not pontificating, just my thoughts, as I’ve watched closely all of this crap unfold.

I posted before, who knows all of the angles and what’s been said, but, IMHO, I just can’t believe this happened again.

ND’s options were few. Some say it leads the way to them joining the conference in football.

That’s a nice thought, would like to see that in writing, that in 5 years, ND becomes a full member.

Comment by Dan 09.12.12 @ 3:35 pm

Then again, after writing War and Peace post above, my attention came back to Pitt football, and does any of it really matter?? LOL

I also see I wrote, “I could live with UCONN football”!! Ha Ha!! LMAO.

But, could they live with us?? LOL

Comment by Dan 09.12.12 @ 3:37 pm

Dan couldn’t agree more. I believe that Swofford could’ve said all or nothing and played hard ball with ND. They would’ve looked at their options and realized that they had to do it. I love the $50 million buy-out, but this still feels like a loss.

Comment by Vulcan Rob 09.12.12 @ 3:41 pm

48-3 VT over Pitt. NEAT!!

Comment by Get the Glory 09.12.12 @ 3:50 pm

I think Swofford did play some hard ball. Hey….you want your “independence” to keep the mystique and tradition…fine….but you get no football revenue. Sure a full instead of partial football membership adds to the media rights pot but does it add enough to increase the extra $2 million we are getting now if we have to cut them in?

If it lead to solidifying the ACC and the $50 million buyout….it’s not a loss. HUGE win!

Comment by FG 09.12.12 @ 4:11 pm

So … we essentially left the Big East for an incarnation of it that includes Clemson and Fla. St. Brilliant. I Can’t wait to get shafted come bowl season.

Comment by Chuck Morris 09.12.12 @ 4:12 pm

We got a long way to go to get shafted come bowl season. Would you have been upset if we lost out on a bowl if they were a full football member instead of a partial football member? Probably not unless you just do not want good teams in the ACC so we have no bowl competition.

Losing FSU and Clemson would have cost us alot of money…stability at $50 million buyout is the key. Look at the forest instead of concentrating on trees.

Comment by FG 09.12.12 @ 4:16 pm

Given ND’s arrangement of playing each
ACC team every 3 years Pitt can now
get WVU back on the schedule (every year).

Please let’s get away from playing the MAC
and FCS teams.

Comment by JR 09.12.12 @ 4:32 pm

@JR: Get away from playing the MAC and FCS? Are you sure you’re watching the same games that I’m watching lately?

Comment by MikePITT 09.12.12 @ 4:38 pm

So, as I mentioned in the previous thread, perhaps we get the Hoyas to be the 16th bball team since they don’t have FBS football anyway.

Comment by Pitt Dad 09.12.12 @ 4:51 pm

i’d rather lose to a bcs team than a mac or fcs team.

Comment by pittkeith 09.12.12 @ 4:57 pm

The Big East was the biggest b@#$% in the world for allowing Notre Dame to dictate anything they wanted in whatever way they wanted without any resistance. This deal has made the ACC only SLIGHTLY better than that. Notre Dame is turning into the only child that’s never been told ‘no’. At the very least they should have allowed ND to join for olympic sports and ALLOWED them to schedule some football games (remember, they need the ACC scheduling just as badly as the ACC needs the exposure that ND brings). Bending to the point where they negotiate the whole circus agreement that the Big Least had with the bowls is insane.

Bottom line is the ACC should have told Notre Dame to pound sand. Instead, we’re now the Big East v2.0.

Comment by Cool Hand Nuke 09.12.12 @ 5:00 pm

@ Get the Glory, if you’re solid on that prediction, then empty your retirement account, call your bookie and enjoy the beat down after betting the farm on VA TECH, because the Vegas line is Pitt+10.

I’m feeling more like Pitt+21 is a more accurate line. In either case, you’re a winner.

Comment by Dr. Tom 09.12.12 @ 5:12 pm

So thinking about this from a strategic business decision standpoint

1) ACC now fulfills their desire to deposition the BE by taking (BC, VT, Miami, PITT, SU, and ND) thus giving it control of the eastern seaboard and the largest TV market in the country

2) ACC pluck ND from the market (Big 10 and B12) by securing (or prohibiting) them for the future with a 50 million dollar exit fee (the reason to add ND was more a move to prevent ND from going elsewhere with the exit fee)

3) ACC stabilizing this conference by increasing the exit fee o 50M per school thus ending all discussion of exodus by Clemson and FSU

4) ACC destroy the BE by not beating it head to head but instead consuming it

Must say that those in the ACC had a strategic plan and it appears that they may have executived it perfectly. “It’s a marathon not a sprint”.

PITT is sitting pretty after all. 19.2M payout per year from the ACC. Old geographic rivals. Remains in a conference close to their alumni and prospective student recruitment. Stability in a conference with a 50M payout.

Comment by Pitt fan in Atlanta 09.12.12 @ 5:44 pm

I was against it before I was for it. The 50 mil exit fee makes it worth it. Plus our kids get to go to ND for all sports. Makes ACC more competitive in all sports.

Now if we could only take care of our own business.

Comment by gc 09.12.12 @ 5:56 pm

Plus out of our traditional rivals I prefer ND over PSU and WVU. Their fans are jackasses but marginally less so than the others.

Comment by gc 09.12.12 @ 5:59 pm

Oh yeah, they will also spend more money on hotels and top shelf booze when they come to town.

Comment by gc 09.12.12 @ 6:03 pm

@ Get the Glory, I think you are wildly optimistic. I can see us getting the 3 but can’t see how we can hold VT to 48. More like 63 to 3.

Comment by Houston Panther 09.12.12 @ 6:06 pm

FG,

Losing a bowl bid to a full conference member is not being shafted. Losing one to a team with their own TV deal and scheduling power is. Furthermore, they don’t have to be equal or better to take the bowl; they can take it with FEWER wins.

Increasing the exit buyout (already a good $20 mil)could have been achieved without revisiting old BE failings. The BE almost had to because they are desperate. The ACC is not.

Comment by Chuck Morris 09.12.12 @ 6:08 pm

I like the $50M exit fee for stability and the $2M extra annual revenue. Now let’s start spending money on improving the coaching staff.

Comment by Houston Panther 09.12.12 @ 6:08 pm

Gotta pine for the wannabes: RU, UConn, Cincy, L’ville.

What they have to do more than anything is improve their academics.

And, finally, they’ve got to change the name of the Big East Conference. “Dross” comes to mind.

Comment by steve1 09.12.12 @ 6:15 pm

ND in ACC is ok but i would have held out for 6 games not 5 . the reason is ND would play pitt all most every year any way the same for BC and
miami if we were in the big east mac or ACC THEY WOULD STILL HAVE PLAYED THOES 3 TEAMS ANY WAY .

so they really only gave the ACC 2 games think abought that so knowing that the ACC should have said come on bord but you must play 6 games.

Comment by FRANKCAN 09.12.12 @ 6:22 pm

Does ND pay $50M to exit the ACC ?

Comment by spindler's spirit 09.12.12 @ 6:32 pm

FRANKCAN – Pitt will only get one game over three years now with the possibility of a 2nd. Per the agreement, ND has to play every ACC team in a 3 year period and no more than one team twice. Expect PSU or WVU on the schedule now…I’m down with that.

Comment by Tossing Thabeets 09.12.12 @ 6:38 pm

off topic Breaking News — Jim Calhoun to retire, Jamie Dixon to replace him

Comment by wbb 09.12.12 @ 7:00 pm

Calhoun retires–true. Dixon as the rplacement? I highly doubt that will happen!

Comment by pitt1972 09.12.12 @ 7:33 pm

The Vegas line is Pitt +10, is that for the first quarter?

Comment by Moe Greene 09.12.12 @ 7:46 pm

So, people still kind of have a few years to check dance partners before the 50M exit fee kicks in, right??

Would like to know what the vote was on that.

Hope it was 14-0.

Comment by Dan 09.12.12 @ 7:46 pm

Tossing Thabeets i know but when they were dealing the ACC could have sais we know you will play thoes 3 schools if you dont come into the ACC
so you are really only giveing us 2 games we want 3 for a total of 6.

Comment by FRANKCAN 09.12.12 @ 7:58 pm

My initial reaction is that this is a boneheaded move by the ACC, and that they should have played hardball and given Notre Dame the all-or-nothing ultimatum.

That being said, the more I thought about it, the $50 million exit fee is a stupendous amount of money, and even Notre Dame would have to think twice about paying that. If Notre Dame ever joins a conference, it’ll be the ACC, but I frankly don’t ever see that happening.

I think the make-or-break for this deal won’t shake out until the next round of bowl deals. If the potential for Notre Dame lures in better bowl ties to the ACC, then its a win, and a pretty clear cut win at that. Right now the SEC and Big Ten have most of the premier bowls. The potential of a Big 10-Notre Dame bowl matchup is something that is so lucrative I could see a lot of bowls lining up for. If the prospect of Notre Dame allows the ACC to outmaneuver the SEC for a better bowl tie, then its hard not to call it a win.

However, I fear this is just Pitt moving to another version of the ACC. I hate the sweetheart deals Notre Dame gets, it makes me furious. I really wish the ACC would have had the balls to leave them out in the cold.

Comment by TartanPanther 09.12.12 @ 8:13 pm

Dixon will not go any were and if he was it would be at end os season not thestart and not when he has his best center ever.were did you find that Bull i looked on 6 sites found nothing.
abought dixon
calhoun leaveing yes nothing abought dixon on them

Comment by FRANKCAN 09.12.12 @ 8:16 pm

Gosh golly jeez, I guess that means that Notre Dame is ………..at least as selfish as Pitt and Syracuse. I imagine Jack Swarbrick, will be calling the people at Syracure and Pitt to apologise for being such an A-Hole! I guess the thought of the damage to the other Big East schools doesn’t apply to Notre Dame either. I don’t have a problem with Notre Dame joining the ACC it make sence for both the conference and for Notre Dame. I just wish that the ACC would not have them have their cake and eat it too.

Comment by Justinian 09.12.12 @ 8:22 pm

Just read online Al Pacino will be playing Joe PA in a movie coming out next year or 2013. Wonder who will play Scary Jerry.

I like the idea playing ND every 3 years. That would allow us to possibly play WVU or PSU. Hell throw in a SEC school. I just don’t care about ND games like some other Pitt fans do.

As for Saturday, I think Pitt will play tough. I know its a long shot but I think Pitt will keep the game close. Problem is Pitt will find a way to lose in the 4th.

Comment by why me 09.12.12 @ 8:31 pm

It will take 3-4 years before Pitt plays respectable football again, but when they do they will be really good!

Comment by markp 09.12.12 @ 8:38 pm

Only good we got going on right now is Pitt wasn’t left behind In the big east. The way things are going now we don’t have to worry about ND stealing a bowl game from us anytime soon.

Comment by KRF 09.12.12 @ 8:47 pm

frankcan, Dixon leaving is a standing joke on this site. Not so many years ago, every time a major job came open (and I mean EVERY time), Dixon was always mentioned as one of the top candidates to replace the guy who was leaving. It become pretty funny after a while taht we began poking fun at it …. again, this was a few years back when it was actually fun being Pitt fan

Comment by wbb 09.12.12 @ 9:09 pm

Good for Pitt and we will get better soon and much better times ahead, Hail To Pitt

Comment by 63Team 09.12.12 @ 9:15 pm

“Just read online Al Pacino will be playing Joe PA in a movie coming out next year or 2013. Wonder who will play Scary Jerry?”

Christopher Walken 🙂

Comment by thestumper 09.12.12 @ 9:29 pm

I’m hearing rumors of Robert Foster becoming a panther. If we land foster and Dorian Johnson then pitt may be making waves a few years in the acc. H2P

Comment by Stashy 09.12.12 @ 9:51 pm

you scared me Wbb i knew abought that joke
but the way you said it short and to the point
scared me so bad i forget and the way thing are going in foot ball i belived it .

Comment by FRANKCAN 09.12.12 @ 9:55 pm

Chryst is ranked – his Pitt team is #7 here:
link to espn.go.com

Comment by TonyinHouston 09.12.12 @ 10:21 pm

Houston Panther:
Fellow Houstonian here who agrees with you.

Comment by TonyinHouston 09.12.12 @ 10:25 pm

@ thestumper, “Wonder who will play Scary Jerry?”
Christopher Walken”, That’s a good one. I loved Walken in that classic “The Deer Hunter”, which was filmed in Pittsburgh.

What do you think the title of the Sandusky Pedo State movie will be?

Maybe, “The Queer Hunter”. LOL

Comment by Dr. Tom 09.12.12 @ 10:40 pm

Spindler’s Sprint’s question is spot on: Will the 50m exit fee apply to ND? The devil is in the details as always. If it does it is unlikely that they will go trillying off (not even sure trillying is a word but I like it in this context) to the Big 10 or elsewhere when offered a sweet deal at some point in the future. This also would make it far more favorable for them to join the ACC in football when and if membership in a football conference becomes in their best interest. It will be fascinating to get the whole story and to watch this situation unfold in the weeks months and years ahead. We do know that ND is very good at taking care of its own business and that the ACC leadership has more capabilities and more institutional power behind it than the BE ever had. HTP for hooking up with a bunch of competent and smart people/institutions. Let’s hope this deal is a win win and no one got snookered.

Comment by opfim 09.12.12 @ 10:51 pm

@ TonyinHouston, I had a feeling that Chryst would be getting Pitt some national attention early on, just not in such a BAD way, yikes!

Well, Coach Chyst intended to let his actions speak for him, so far he seems to be dealing with a persistent case of laryngitis.

After one more week of Tino taking a beating both from VA TECH as well as his own usual self imposed punishment, hopefully then Coach will bench Sunseri and opt for some new blood at QB. That should help him get his voice back because that WOULD be a bold dramatic action to his credit.

Comment by Dr. Tom 09.12.12 @ 11:01 pm

Look back about two months Chas and Reed and you will find someone on here that said ND BOT took a straw vote for move to ACC.

Second, the $50M was a key negotiation agreed to by all schools. Don’t be overly confident that the sum prohibits all teams from still moving. These conferences may take on 1/2 of an exit fee or more to get their team. That said, it would take a lot of balls for an AD to put that option out to the BOT.

Third, the ACC is somewhat hosed for further expansion under this model. There are 15 schools for all sports except football. To get to 16 teams in Bball and all other sports, the newest member couldn’t have a FBall team because it would create an 8 and a 7 team conference, which is impossible from a scheduling standpoint. Opens up for a Villanova or G’Town if the ACC goes that direction.

I do think the ACC could have made a more seroius push for full membership, but it is hard to play chicken sometimes. I do expect ND to be a full member in 5 years so long as ND does not contend for a national championship in that timeframe. The luster is wearing off the program and NBC knows it. Viewership is down, but for now they will take a slight financial hit to say they own the rights!That may not be the case in a couple of years.

Comment by dhuffdaddy 09.12.12 @ 11:01 pm

Brilliant! Muahahahahaha!

Hail to Pitt!

Comment by Digdug 09.12.12 @ 11:06 pm

crap…..need to be more succinct!

As far as scheduling, I would not schedule WVU or Penn State. WVU is on an island with their closest conference competition over 700 miles away. For recruiting purposes, keep them on that island. Make it more painful for the kids who pick the number one party school over academics to play close to home.

Penn State, I just wouldn’t play them. They are another school on the outskirts of their conference footprint. Isolation is what they deserve. That said, I would expect PSU and WVU to start playing with each other (emphasis added). What a bunch of inbreds that would spawn! As many young men in West Virginia express every June, “Happy father’s day uncle bob”.

Comment by dhuffdaddy 09.12.12 @ 11:07 pm

College athletics is a big money chess match with multiple players. This move sets the board for the next move.

First there will be better football bowl opportunities for ACC teams.

Basketball, well OMG what a conference.

Finally, there are 15 and one day there will be 16. UCon. Rutgers and Louisville will try, but don’t be suprised to see PSU look for a fresh start back in the east.

Comment by end of an era 09.13.12 @ 6:00 am

Notre Dame will eventually join. The only thing keeping them back is the desire to play Michigan, Michigan St, USC, navy, purdue, army, and Stanford every year so they can recruit California, the Midwest, ny, and Baltimore dc area. If only 3 conference games they would lose 4 of those 7 opponents. I think the reality that they are not special is setting in, it took 30 years but hey it took Penn state 50 so I guess nd is progressive.

Comment by John 09.13.12 @ 6:39 am

Coach chryst response to nd deal–“neat”

Comment by John 09.13.12 @ 6:40 am

Interesting quote from Pedersen in the PG today:

Pederson also said Notre Dame is locked in to becoming a full member of the ACC if it ever decides to give up its independent status.

“That’s a big part of this,” he said.

link to post-gazette.com

Comment by KeyboardKev 09.13.12 @ 8:00 am

Notre Dame’s contract with NBC expires at the end of the 2015 season. That contract is their lifeline to independence. If NBC doesn’t renew – and the ratings have been weak at best so why should they – ND will become a full ACC member.

Comment by Pitt Dad 09.13.12 @ 8:18 am

Question about ND and bowl tie-ins: Does anyone know/remember if there were rules about how often ND could “leap” another team for a bowl? I seem to remember there being some sort of rule like that with their Big East agreement, but maybe it was for a specific bowl?
And if so, I wonder does the ACC deal contain that language/agreement.

Comment by JW 09.13.12 @ 8:34 am

@JW, in short form, the answer is yes. Don’t know the details, but, from what people were saying yesterday, there is a bowl provision of some kind for them. Something about they have to be within 1 win, not 2 like in the BE.

Comment by Dan 09.13.12 @ 9:20 am

[…] with me to do a little Q&A exchange. I sent him my questions on Tuesday night, right before the latest round of expansiopocolypse hit — rendering some of my questions a little dated even before the responses came. My answers to […]


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