Notre Dame Staying Independent Is Good For College Sports

Conference realignment has caused a seismic shift in college football, but one school has remained untouched. That of course is Notre Dame.

They’ve stayed away from possible moves to a conference because they make more money on their TV deal with NBC paying them more than they would get from joining a conference.

The Irish are the only major independent left, but many are arguing that they shouldn’t be. Is this better for college football though? I would argue it isn’t.

First of all, what conference would Notre Dame join? They currently are in the ACC for most other sports, but they have ties to the Big Ten as well, being a member for men’s ice hockey.

The ACC might be the more likely destination given that part of Notre Dame’s deal with the ACC to remain independent for football is that they must play five ACC teams every year.

On the other hand, joining the Big Ten would put them in better competition and it would make them more money.

Either situation could take away from some of the annual rivalries Notre Dame has.

Going to the ACC could guarantee they play teams like Stanford, Boston College and Pitt. It could potentially take away from its other rivalries with teams like USC and Navy and Stanford: being in the ACC is a whole other problem and should not be a reason for Notre Dame to join.

The deal with the ACC has already taken away from other rivalries anyways. It’s the reason that Notre Dame no longer plays Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue annually.

Going to the Big Ten would of course bring back those rivalries and further ensure an annual matchup with USC.

Like Stanford being in the ACC though, USC being in the Big Ten is a whole other problem with college football. These rivalries are great representations of some of college football’s great traditions.

Speaking of tradition, that’s what college football is built on. It’s what sets it apart from most other sports. Few programs, if any, are as rich in history, tradition and passion as Notre Dame.

Part of those traditions is the great rivalries listed above that Notre Dame has had over many years.

While the deal with the ACC is understandable, it would be better for the game for them to have the freedom with their schedule that they had in the past to have these rivalries annually.

College football has undergone a number of changes in the past few years, but a lot of them haven't necessarily been for the better.

There are plenty of areas that going backwards in time, as opposed to continually changing, would be better for college football.

Perhaps the biggest one is conference realignment. Let Notre Dame staying independent be a representative of the great history of college football.

This is a perfect case of if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Notre Dame doesn’t need to join a conference to still be one of the premier brands in college football that draws a massive crowd in every marquee matchup and in every road venue they play in.

They also don’t have to be in a conference to play a tough schedule, which is sometimes a myth among college football fans that Notre Dame doesn’t play a tough schedule because they aren’t in a conference.

It actually could be argued the other way around. Notre Dame playing five ACC games leaves less flexibility on their schedule where they schedule some tougher games and rivalry games as mentioned above.

Notre Dame still schedules tough games every year. This year, their schedule looked weaker, but that was to no fault of the Irish. Their tough opponents (Florida State, USC) didn’t pan out.

But let’s take a look back at their 2013 schedule, the last year before their deal with the ACC. They played the Rose Bowl winner Michigan State, and Oklahoma, who beat Alabama to win the Sugar Bowl, and those two finished at No. 3 and No. 6 respectively.

They also played Stanford, the Pac-12 representative of the Rose Bowl that year, who finished at No. 11. Add two other Pac-12 schools in Arizona State and USC, both of whom finished in the Top 25.

There’s also been a lot of college football fans that have given credit to or discounted teams based on their conference. For example, a team in the SEC could be given the benefit of the doubt because they played an SEC or Big Ten schedule, even if they play several of the worst teams in the conference.

Let’s settle this right now. A team’s strength of schedule gives them a better resume that will help them earn a spot in the college football playoff.

Their schedule and conference doesn’t determine how good the team is. The players and coaches of the team do.

UCF and Boise State in years past didn’t have to be in a power conference to be one of the best teams in the country.

Their strength of schedule may not have warranted them being in national championship consideration, but at their best, the team was good enough to beat some of the best teams in the power conferences, such as Boise State beating Oregon and Virginia Tech or UCF beating Auburn.

Notre Dame, didn’t have as tough a schedule as years past, and wasn’t in a conference. The team was good enough though to make it to the national championship, which they had to beat the SEC champion to do.

With all of the changes to the college football landscape, many of them seem to be detrimental to the sport, with conference realignment being among the top.

College football could use some leadership that wants to go back to its roots and focus on what makes the sport so great, which is its history, tradition and pageantry.

Alignment of conferences that college football should go backwards in time, as opposed to keep moving forward.

The old conferences were regionalized as opposed to teams on the Pacific coast playing in the Big Ten and ACC, and it allowed for almost all of the great rivalries to be played annually.

In all of those years, Notre Dame stayed as an independent, and it was a good thing. Maybe now, it can be a representation and the first step in college football going back to that format.

Jacob Rudy is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jar7371@psu.edu.