The time may have finally run out for Notre Dame to be Independent in college football. The Irish, who have been Independent since 1887, may be the latest college football tradition to end in the name of progress that has accelerated in recent years in college football.
Oddly enough, Notre Dame’s reign as an Independent may not end due to millions of dollars, a blueblood like Michigan, or NBC ending their TV contract. What may end up breaking the camel’s back for the Fighting Irish, is the worst team in college football.
UMass is the Latest Independent to Leave
Let’s not kid ourselves: UMass going to the MAC isn’t going to move the needle for Notre Dame, but what it might do is put the Irish under a more focused microscope which could be the first step to their end. For years, being Independent was a real option for college football teams. At its peak, in 2020, there were seven schools who were Independent, including the following:
- Army
- BYU
- Liberty
- New Mexico State
- Notre Dame
- UConn
- UMass
At the time, BYU, Liberty, Army, and Notre Dame were all solid programs, and there were even some talks of building some kind of alliance amongst some of the teams, not as a conference, but as a group of teams who would play each other and have a common goal of giving them credibility. Today, all of those teams besides UConn are now either in a conference or have been accepted into one in the near future.
If everyone else is in a conference, there is naturally a little bit of a push to get Notre Dame into a conference. Every other team has to play league games, so why doesn’t Notre Dame? As someone who follows BYU Football, I can tell you that teams didn’t care about as much about BYU as they did other games because they weren’t a conference opponent.
Rules to Get Into the College Football Playoff
Last week, the College Football Playoff Committee agreed to a new system for teams to enter the 12-team playoff. The system, which switched to a 5+7 model instead of a 6+6 model, didn’t make as many headlines as the fact that no matter what Notre Dame does, they can not be a Top 4 team, earning themselves a bye in the first round of the Playoff.
This puts Notre Dame in a tough position. In some ways, it also disincentivizes the committee to rank Notre Dame in the Top 4 because it will only add to the argument that the Irish deserve to get a bye. Additionally, any team that does get in the Playoff will feel that Notre Dame has an unfair advantage because they will not have to have played a game the week before in a Conference Championship game, meaning they got an extra bye week to heal up and prepare.
In other words, for everyone to truly be on equal playing ground, everyone should be in a conference and have to go through the same process to get to the playoff, which requires being in a conference.
TV Contracts Are Catching Up and Soon Passing Notre Dame
NBC has had an exclusive deal with Notre Dame Football since 1991 that has recently been extended to 2029. The newest deal will guarantee the Irish up to nearly $50 million annually, which a few years ago would have been viewed as an unprecedented amount. Still, with he Big 10 and SEC’s new deal with Fox and ESPN, they actually are significantly lower than what those schools will be making.
In some ways, the freedom and ability to do what they want outside of the rules of a conference do add some value, but as teams like Michigan, USC, and Alabama approach $75, $90 and $100 million, the temptation to make more money may be worth more than the tradition and freedom to be Independent.
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