Notre Dame’s situation in all the conference realignment (which seems to have settled down, at least for now) is one that is pretty unique from all the other schools. Notre Dame is a name that is known all across America and in many parts of the world. Because of this, every sports team gets plenty of television time just because it’s Notre Dame. In fact, the football program has all of its home games televised strictly on NBC.
Notre Dame is part of the Big East in all sports except football, in which case the Fighting Irish football team plays as an independent. The Big East could soon be on the verge non-existence, so Notre Dame officials are looking at just about every conference in case they have to move. Any conference would love to have Notre Dame join them. Obviously all the conferences want a piece of the Irish’s football revenue pie, but the other Irish teams (basketball, hockey, softball, soccer, baseball, etc.) also bring a history of success with them as well. Here’s a breakdown of each conference and how Notre Dame would fit.
ACC
Current members: Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Miami, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
-Pittsburgh and Syracuse will join the conference at a currently unknown date.
The ACC would kind of make sense geographically for the Irish, at least in the sense that they are near the East Coast. The Irish would be a very welcomed team since they join a conference that is known more for its basketball success rather than football. There aren’t a lot dominant football programs so it wouldn’t take a tremendously talented team to win the conference.
The ACC is also attempting to bring Texas and Oklahoma into the conference as the two schools and longtime rivals are likely to join a conference together. If the ACC is able to add the two then the conference suddenly becomes the most competitive in basketball and football. That is something that the Irish should probably try and be a part of. If Oklahoma and Texas don’t join, then Notre Dame shouldn’t either.
Big East
Current members: Cincinnati, Connecticut, DePaul*, Georgetown*, Louisville, Marquette*, Notre Dame*, Pittsburgh, Providence*, Rutgers, St. John’s*, Seton Hall*, South Florida, Syracuse, Villanova*, West Virginia.
*do not have football teams a part of the Big East
-as noted before, Pittsburgh and Syracuse will be leaving sometime in the near future.
The current situation in the Big East is just as chaotic and fluid as it is in the Big 12. There are new rumors each day that range from sensible to insane. The 14 remaining schools may end up staying together, or they may all end up leaving to join other conferences. Some schools may stay and some will leave. There’s also the possibility that if schools leave the Big 12, the remaining teams in that conference could join forces with the leftovers from the Big East.
The Big East is a suitable home for the Irish as long as “super conferences” in football aren’t created. If those are made, then the Irish will need to abandon the Big East and join one of those. For right now though, this is the best choice for Notre Dame. The Big East is currently one of the six power conferences and one of the best basketball conferences. The Big East also allows Notre Dame to play any of its members in football.
Big 10
Current members: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin.
The Big 10 (which has 12 members) is one of the richest conferences in America, in terms of history as well as money. It is also an incredibly safe conference in the sense that there are no fears of it going away like the Big East or Big 12. The Big 10 has been trying to wrangle Notre Dame into joining for almost 20 years. Needless to say, Notre Dame has always denied that invitation. If Notre Dame is going to join a conference this would be the best choice. It would be a perfect match geographically as well as historically since most of the Big 10 teams have been fielding a football team for as long as Notre Dame. It would also be a smooth transition for the football team since the Irish play at least three Big 10 teams annually.
Big 12
Current Members: Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M
-Texas A&M is leaving the summer of 2012 to join the SEC
The only reason this would be reasonable is because a conference with Oklahoma, Texas, and Notre Dame would be one of the most powerful conferences in America. The three schools all have enormous, nation-wide fan bases and sports programs that bring in millions of dollars. The only setback about the Big 12 is the possibility of the Texas Longhorns Television Network. If that is created, then it would be pointless for Notre Dame to join, as well as any other school for that matter. A move to the Big 12 would be ok geographically, but the middle of America isn’t exactly a hotbed for recruiting like the mid west is.
SEC
Current Members: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
The Southeastern Conference is the best in college football. That may just be my opinion, but winning the past five national championships is a pretty compelling statistic. All the players just seem bigger, faster, and tougher than any of the players in other conferences. The SEC has already said that they are happy with the 13 teams that will make up the conference in 2012, so this probably isn’t an option for Notre Dame. That’s just fine for me because there is no way Notre Dame would be able to compete week in and week out against SEC football teams and be successful.
PAC-12
Current members: Arizona, Arizona St., California, Colorado, Oregon, Oregon St., Stanford, UCLA, USC, Utah, Washington, Washington St.
This probably won’t happen unless ridiculously drastic moves are made nationwide. It would make no sense for Notre Dame to join the PAC-12 in anyway so I highly doubt it will happen.
Remember that Notre Dame is currently an “independent” but a part of the Big East in all other sports. It’s also important to note that money is what is driving all the conference re-alignment. That money comes partly from ticket sales and merchandise of each school, but the large majority of revenue comes from television deals. ESPN, Fox, NBC, and CBS are all paying millions to sign television contracts with each conference. Luckily for Notre Dame, they have their own network contract with NBC that runs for the next 10 years.
No comments:
Post a Comment