Notre Dame still hanging onto Independence

I don’t have to tell you how important the University of Notre Dame is to college football. The Irish have and always will be one of the hot topics of conversation in the world of college football.

That may not mean much to John Doe from Auburn, Alabama who has season tickets to watch his Auburn Tigers play on the plains, but to an avid fan of the sport like myself, I have deep respect for Notre Dame, their football program, their history and tradition, and everything else thrown in.

Now, I am a southerner by birth and geographically speaking, I don’t get to see much Irish football unless they’re playing someone close to home like Alabama, Clemson, etc. And as if luck would have it, Notre Dame is independent so they get to play whoever they want.

Which brings me to our topic- how much longer can Notre Dame remain Independent?

This is a question that has been asked for a long time. When you look at Notre Dame, they’re located in South Bend, Indiana. This is in the heart of Big Ten Country. Truth to be told, they have played schools like Michigan, Michigan St, and Perdue for a very long time, at least up until 2015 when they made a 5 game deal with the ACC. Basically, a part-time member and they remain independent. That’s kind of confusing to most people but keep following me…

In 1991, NBC and Notre Dame signed a long-term television contract worth $38 million for five years. NBC would host all Notre Dame football home games on NBC. The Irish received half of the money and their opponent would receive the other half. However, this upset the rest of the college football world because prior to this deal, NBC would play conference football games-ACC, SEC, Big East, etc.

Now present day, the Irish still have their contract with NBC but it runs out in 2025.

Will Notre Dame leave for the Big Ten or another conference after their contract with NBC ends?

Let me make this crystal clear- as long as Notre Dame has the ability to create their own schedule and play whoever they want and wherever they want, they will remain Independent.

And who can blame them? Why tie yourself to a conference and play the same teams year after year when you can play anyone in the country? There is no rule that says they can’t and I think a lot of college football fans turn their nose at the Irish because of this. Outside South Bend, there is no love loss for the Notre Dame.

There are cons for being Independent. Because of the recent run of dominance by the SEC, Notre Dame must be flawless during their twelve game campaign. And since they’re independent, they don’t play for a conference championship, so they have no room for error.

You can’t say they try to play cupcakes. I know my SEC buddies laugh at their schedule, but it’s not like the Irish are playing Rutgers or Wyoming every year. The Irish play one of the toughest schedules in the nation most years and this season is no different.

Let’s take a look at the 2022 Notre Dame schedule:

1. at Ohio State
2. Marshall
3. California
4. at UNC
5. vs. BYU in Las Vegas
6. Stanford
7. UNLV
8. at Syracuse
9. Clemson
10. vs. Navy in Baltimore
11. Boston College
12. at USC

ND has left plenty of money on table before and I don’t see any sense of urgency from South Bend, even with the recent expansion of the SEC and Pac-12. The Irish seem content.

College Football conference expansion can change on a dime, but for the for seeable future, I don’t see the Irish going anywhere.