As an independent, the common view is that Notre Dame needs to go undefeated to earn consideration for a top-four spot because it does not have a conference championship game to provide wiggle room. The other advantage of affiliating with a conference is better playoff odds. That would potentially make it easier to get an NBC/ESPN television package to work and could boost television revenue for all.

If the NBC ratings with ACC opponents were greater than they are with Notre Dame's standard independent schedule, perhaps that allows some leverage to negotiate somewhere down the line if the Irish were to consider joining the conference. The Clemson game would have produced great ratings no matter what, but it is certainly eye-opening that the NBC schedule, which featured five ACC opponents, rated so well - especially in two Southern markets. Much of that could be related to attendance being severely restricted because of the pandemic, leading to more people tuning in from home. It also opened up new areas in Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina, and Birmingham, Alabama, which finished as the top two markets for Notre Dame on NBC this season. Its double-overtime win over Clemson in November had 10.2 million viewers, the second-most watched Notre Dame game on NBC on record. Notre Dame's season opener against Duke on NBC had 4.4 million viewers, making it the most-watched afternoon home opener on the network in 14 years. Though there is big money on the line for Notre Dame football as an independent, with its own television deal with NBC that pays $15 million annually, Notre Dame and ACC members shared their television money from their NBC and ESPN contracts this year and it paid off in the ratings. While Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick has repeatedly batted down any suggestion the Irish are leaving their independence behind anytime soon - including saying during the season, 'the reasons that we value independence and it continues to be a priority for us aren't impacted by the positive experience of being in the ACC fully this year' - we now have evidence that a partnership could benefit both. So then, why not make this a permanent union? 'It's been a win-win,' then-ACC commissioner John Swofford said in the run-up to the 2020 ACC title game. Notre Dame went undefeated in the regular season, had its highest ratings on NBC in 15 years and, along with perennial conference power Clemson, helped give the ACC two playoff teams for the first time. If anything, the one-year football partnership between the Fighting Irish and the ACC could not have gone more perfectly for both sides. ET.įor what feels like centuries, we have debated perhaps the greatest mystery in the known universe: What would happen if (gasp!) Notre Dame ever joined a conference?Ĭollege football did not spin off its axis when the best-known independent football program in the country joined a conference for the first time in school history, an arrangement for the 2020 season necessitated by the pandemic. Watch 'Notre Dame Football: A Year in the ACC' tonight on the ACC Network at 8 p.m. You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browserĬould Notre Dame jump from independent to ACC long term?Ĭollege Football, Notre Dame Fighting IrishĮditor's Note: This story originally ran ahead of Notre Dame's ACC title game showdown with Clemson and has been updated.

Notre dame football conference history