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Notre Dame Was Feeling Left Out Of All The Expansion Talk, And Set About Fixing This

Mar 9, 2010, 10:00 PM UTC

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â†µSoon, spring practice will start and people who follow collegeâ†µfootball will have something, anything to talk about other thanâ†µconference realignment. But today is not that day. Today is the day whenâ†µNotre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick talks at length aboutâ†µthe shifting sands that D-I's last major independent finds itself dealingâ†µwith, and drops thisâ†µND-fan-panic-inducing quote:â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥“You each could invent a scenario that would force our hand.â†µâ‡¥It’s not hard to do.”â†µâ‡¥

â†µâ†µâ†µOf course, he alsoâ†µsaid this virtually simultaneously:â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥“While we’re paying attention [to realignment], we’re tryingâ†µâ‡¥like heck to maintain our football independence. It’s good for collegeâ†µâ‡¥football and it’s great for Notre Dame. That’s our goal.”â†µâ‡¥

â†µâ†µâ†µBut if it makes Irish ears bleed, it leads.â†µ

â†µâ†µI’m having a hard time envisioning a scenario that forces Notre Dameâ†µinto a conference, actually. I’ve broached the idea that the Big Eastâ†µwould defensively boot the Irish, leaving Notre Dame’s other sportsâ†µhomeless and choosing between the Big Ten-which is an attractive placeâ†µto land but would insist on those gold helmet guys coming along-and CUSAâ†µor the Missouri Valley or something else, which would consign all but aâ†µfew ND sports to hellish mid-majordom. (Niche sports like hockey andâ†µlacrosse don’t operate along the same conference lines as most otherâ†µsports do.) â†µ

â†µâ†µBut I sort of agree with “Frank The Tank,” a man who hasâ†µdedicated every waking moment to conference realignment the past coupleâ†µmonths, when heâ†µsays that’s not happening: â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥The other Big East Catholics absolutely fall all over themselves toâ†µâ‡¥be associated with the nation’s preeminent Catholic sports program, soâ†µâ‡¥that’s 7 votes against kicking out ND right there. Pitt has aâ†µâ‡¥longstanding relationship with Notre Dame for football which it isn’tâ†µâ‡¥going to mess with - I would imagine that ND would easily go back toâ†µâ‡¥playing Penn State annually and drop its games with Pitt if the Panthersâ†µâ‡¥ever supported kicking ND out. Syracuse and Rutgers are alsoâ†µâ‡¥holding out hope for Big Ten invites. Since any kicking out ofâ†µâ‡¥Notre Dame could possibly nudge the Irish into the Big Ten and close offâ†µâ‡¥that 12th conference spot forever, SU and RU aren’t going to want to doâ†µâ‡¥anything to ND, either. Those are 10 schools right there that willâ†µâ‡¥automatically support Notre Dame, which means that ND will be in the BEâ†µâ‡¥as long as there is the current hybrid structure.â†µâ‡¥

â†µâ†µâ†µThat’s too certain to me. The Catholic stuff is mostly bluster. Ifâ†µGeorgetown is faced with the potential loss of primary rivals Pitt orâ†µSyracuse, it would have a ton of motivation to give the Irish theâ†µheave-ho. Various other Catholic schools are going to have to make theâ†µsame evaluation, and since they don’t have football their quick calculusâ†µfor their bottom lines will be slanted towards theâ†µtrue basketball powers in the league. The calculus may end up stickingâ†µwith ND. It may not. â†µ

â†µ

â†µBut he's right that a team angling for a Big Ten invite won't vote toâ†µkick out ND, and it may or may not be in the interest of other footballâ†µmembers to keep ND in. The Big East's bowl options are skimpy enoughâ†µright now and that's with the possibility that ND will land in one ofâ†µthem propping up their value. â†µ

â†µâ†µSo what’s the other scenario that forces ND into a conference? Theâ†µBCS could yank Notre Dame’s special privilege to BCS bowls, but they can’t take awayâ†µthe school’s ability to get in altogether without facing a lawsuit they willâ†µlose like whoah. And given the way the BCS has fallen all over itself toâ†µtake plainlyâ†µundeserving ND teams whenever qualified, taking away that bonusâ†µaccess is a threat without teeth. I don’t see the scenario out thereâ†µwithout something truly epic going down. â†µ

â†µâ†µSwarbrick, then, thinks somethingâ†µepic could go down:â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥“I think seismic is a possibility,” he said. “I don’t know where theâ†µâ‡¥spectrum falls out. You have such an interesting media environment here.â†µâ‡¥It’s having such an impact on people. You have two conferences who haveâ†µâ‡¥separated themselves economically. And you have all the otherâ†µâ‡¥conferences lined up in successive years for broadcast negotiations.â†µâ‡¥That’s a tough situation for everyone in that position. The bar has beenâ†µâ‡¥set so high, and the media market is so tepid, that it createsâ†µâ‡¥tension.”â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥He added: “I’ve been in and around this business for 29 years now.â†µâ‡¥This is as unstable as I’ve seen it.”â†µâ‡¥

â†µâ†µâ†µAfter all this, the Big Ten will add the University of Toronto andâ†µnothing will happen to anyone else. Book it. â†µ

â†µ

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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