NOTre Dame

             
          The sun has set on yet another incredible college football season. A year that started with the seemingly unstoppable Alabama as favourites to secure back to back National Championships ended with a new sheriff in town. Dabo Swinney's Clemson, a five and a half point underdog for the showpiece finale at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, stunned the Crimson Tide 44-16 suggesting a shift in power around the college football world.
          Dissecting the past four months of college football a lot of talking points stand out. What's happened to the Big10 and the play-offs? If Oklahoma had a legit defence could they be contenders? This kid Trevor Lawrence, is he really 19?! Hidden amongst all the other hot button issues in the NCAA however is one I've spent most time trying to come to terms with.
          The Bama blow-out Clemson displayed in California last week takes the heat off Notre Dame ever so slightly following their shoddy performance in the play-off semi final against the Tigers. The truth is however Brian Kelly's side aren't on the same page as college football's most elite programmes. Clemson v Notre Dame is certainly a fixture we should have witnessed this season, but in the ACC title game! Give credit where credit is due the Fighting Irish toppled four ranked sides on route to an undefeated regular season, just their third in the last half century. Although two of those ranked sides collapsed after going head to head with Kelly's team. Stanford went into South Bend at number 7 but finished the season outside the top 25 with an 8-4 record whilst Virginia Tech (24th when they hosted Notre Dame) had a terrible 6-6 season headlined by their loss to minnows Old Dominion by two touchdowns.
          Besides the opening day joust with Michigan the Independent Notre Dame didn't face the toughest strength of schedule. Even the annual showdown with USC lost some of its appeal with the Trojans so out of depth this season the Southern Cal school weren't bowl eligible come the end of the season. When the clock hit three zeros at the Coliseum on the final day Notre Dame knew they were play-off bound, cementing a 12-0 perfect regular season and with no conference championship to lose the Irish had sent away a pretty flawless cv to the committee.
          Whilst the men from South Bend could sit with their feet up on Championship weekend there are two sides to the coin. You'd have to say any defeat amongst those twelve fixtures, no matter who to, the play-off hopes would be almost out of reach. To combat this Notre Dame could join the ACC and should they suffer a set back throughout the year there would be the chance of redemption in the form of an ACC Championship game, most likely against their recent Cotton Bowl opponents, Clemson.
          It took me by surprise during the Cotton Bowl just how off the pace Notre Dame looked compared to their opponents in orange, putting up just three points over the four quarters. Champions Clemson have had an outstanding defence behind them for a few years now and with Brent Venables pulling the strings as Defensive Co-Ordinator and a number of seniors returning the Tigers restricted the free scoring Crimson Tide to their lowest points in a game since the Iron Bowl of November 2017. They're good, very good and Christian Wilkins who marshalled the defence all year long is going to be playing on your tv screens on Sundays come September this year but a 'play-off calibre team' notching just three points on the board? Na. Fighting Irish supporters across the country would have been livid had their school been snubbed by the selection committee following the 12-0  season and quite right. Having seen the outcome however and the emphatic Clemson performance I can't help but think the two play-off rejects Ohio State and Georgia would've put up a more convincing fight with the Tigers. Georgia, who's only defeat going into their conference championship game was to LSU at the overpowering Death Valley, took Alabama to the wire and completely silenced Tua Tagovailoa. The Bulldogs programme has taken huge strides forward under Kirby Smart and look dangerously close to challenging rivals Bama for years to come. Ohio State on the other hand will feel even more justified in their play-off argument. The Buckeyes crushed Michigan by a larger scoreline (62-39) than Notre Dame when the Wolverines were even higher ranked (4th, 14th when they faced the Irish). Throw the fuel that is the Big10 conference title into the fire (play-off argument) and the Ohio State cv nearly tops the committees list. That disastrous night in West Lafayette however was always going to haunt Urban Meyer as the season unfolded, unranked Purdue's 49-20 drubbing of the Buckeyes was a shock no play-off chasing team could come back from.
          So if just one defeat could potentially jeopardise Notre Dame's play-off chances then why don't they join a conference? Why wouldn't they want the chance to get some more silverware (ACC title) under the golden dome? Money. Scheduling. The two crucial factors tying the Irish down to their laissez-faire attitude when it comes to conference football. After all Notre Dame's baseball, basketball, soccer and lacrosse teams all compete in the ACC so what's the difference? NBC struck a lucrative deal with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to televise all home games until the year 2025 with the university cashing in roughly $15 million a season. Joining the ACC would require Notre Dame to split the $15 million amongst their fellow conference members instead of pocketing the lot themselves. The school already has to divvy up their tv cash with the rest of the ACC in the four previous mentioned athletic programmes, they'll keep the $15 million. Once the agreed deal runs out six years from now (or $90 million from now) the ACC might look more appealing. When the trophy cabinet boasts nothing but mediocre bowls in the six year span a new challenge could tempt the hierarchy in South Bend. Whilst money seems to be the number one desire in just about every sports organisation in this day and age there is another dilemma for Notre Dame. By fully committing to the ACC the schedule would include eight fixtures with conference oppositions. The Irish already compete with five ACC sides a year so you might wonder what difference three more would make? Well, Notre Dame have a long proud history and with that comes tradition. Since 1927 Navy and Notre Dame have battled it out once a season with the Irish currently leading the series 78-13-1. The fixture is currently college footballs longest uninterrupted rivalry and won't be halted anytime soon. The annual USC fixture certainly isn't going anywhere either. The only thing bigger than Notre Dame/USC is apparently World War Two which put a three year hiatus (1943-45) on a rivalry dating back to 1926. Like the Irish USC have an illustrious past and combined the schools have accumulated 22 national championships and 14 Heisman trophies. With the frequent success of either side the game is often the eye candy of the schedule release. USC will be just as eager to continue this yearly clash of the titans as their Pennsylvanian competitors. Notre Dame also started a series with Stanford in 1997 that hasn't taken a break to date. Those are a trio of traditional games each year that Notre Dame will want to cling onto throughout the twelve game regular season. Entering the ACC and competing in eight games leaves just four spots in the schedule. The three rival matches would most likely remain which opens up just one slot for the school to schedule in another side. The universities athletic department will highlight the 'would be' scheduling headache and financial advantage as their logic to remain independent but it's hard to look at Notre Dame as a major powerhouse of the college game when Clemson, Alabama, Ohio State, Oklahoma etc are parading conference titles around campus whilst the Irish sit dormant on championship weekend.
          With the current play-off system it feels crucial for teams to compete in conferences and more importantly conference championships. You'll never satisfy everyone and the recent transition from BCS to College Football Playoff hasn't pleased all, some fans have been crying out for an eight team play-off to replace the current format of four. Some suggestions include each conference winner of the power 5 to clinch an automatic spot, meaning you could lose numerous games along the way but as long as you prevail in the conference championship game you're a shoe in. I hope to see Notre Dame bite the bullet and dedicate their football programme to the ACC. New life would be injected into a conference that in recent years has become something of a Clemson monopoly. It's time to see some fight in the Irish.