Expanding CFP Keeps Notre Dame From Joining Big Ten And Other Conferences

With the bulk of the college football season starting this Labor Day weekend, Notre Dame has bad news, good news and better news.

I was born and raised in South Bend, Indiana, home of the Notre Dame campus, so I’ll gladly tease to the better news: The Fighting Irish will spend mostly the rest of their lives collecting at least $6 million from one of their revenue sources.

Actually, courtesy of inflation, TV dollars and the eternal popularity of this team whose stadium sits in the shadow of Touchdown Jesus, they’ll collect way more than $6 million regarding that revenue source.

They’ll also collect way more than their peers.

This involves the College Football Playoff (CFP) board of managers unanimously announcing Friday they’ll expand from four teams in the CFP to 12 as soon as maybe 2024.

As a result, Knute Rockne, The Four Horsemen and those other Notre Dame legends will rest peacefully in their graves since this CFP expansion will keep the Irish as an independent.

Notre Dame won’t join a conference.

Notre Dame never will join one.

That’s not official, but that’s common sense, especially since everybody else who makes the CFP must huddle with conference members to split the $6 million now given to each of the four participants.

Courtesy of the Irish’s independent status — even before Rockne began making Notre Dame famous after he became head coach in 1918 — they pocketed every nickel from their CFP trips after the 2018 and 2020 seasons.

They’ll do the same as CFP regulars.

Anyhow, when it comes to this Labor Day weekend for Notre Dame, I’ll return to the better news later.

Here’s the bad news: The 5th-ranked Irish will meet No. 2, loaded and cocky Ohio State Saturday on the road with a rookie head coach (Marcus Freeman) and a rookie starting quarterback (Tyler Buchner).

Not only that, but, well, um.

That’s about it.

Even though Notre Dame isn’t “Ohio State” loaded, Notre Dame is loaded, with a bruising offensive line, versatile running backs possessing the ability to sprint and t0 catch, all-everything tight end Michael Mayer and enough gifted defenders to keep folks out of the end zone more often than not.

How cocky is Ohio State?

With oddsmakers favoring the Buckeyes over Notre Dame by two touchdowns and a field goal, their Heisman Trophy candidate at quarterback (C.J. Stroud) announced on social media this week that he was using some of his NIL (Names, Images and Likeness) money to give each of his teammates $500 gift cards to purchase new suits for the Notre Dame game.

Here’s the good news: Ohio State is cocky.

As legendary Notre Dame basketball coach Digger Phelps used to say, the Irish are the most dangerous underdogs in sports history.

There also are those lines in the 114-year-old Notre Dame Victory March, which have been prophetic through the decades: What though the odds be great or small. Old Notre Dame will win over all.

Here’s the better news: No matter what happens Saturday night on national television in Columbus, Ohio, the Irish already have won this weekend. Their independent status was signed, sealed and delivered Friday for generations by the tripling of teams in the college football’s playoff system.

Prior to that, the possibility of Notre Dame joining a conference for the first time ever threatened to go from rumor to fact.

Remember?

Southern Cal and UCLA announced this summer they were bolting the Pac-12 for the Big Ten to continue the rise of super conferences. Fox, CBS and NBC followed by completing a seven-year contract with the Big Ten worth $7 billion. As a result, each of the conference’s 16 teams were projected to receive between $80 million and $100 million per season.

Notre Dame will get $15 million per year through 2025 from the NBC contract it originally signed before the 1991 season.

You do the math.

Even so, Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick held a live online chat last month with the school’s alumni association, and he mentioned three things that would keep the Irish independent.

• He said a TV partner after 2025 that would continue to broadcast all of Notre Dame’s home games, which NBC has done, and which NBC or somebody else will do in the neighborhood of that Big Ten TV money for one of the mightiest brands in sports.
• He said the ability to take care of Notre Dame’s Olympic sports. Since 2012, they’ve been part of the ACC, and neither those conference officials nor the Irish have sought a divorce.
• He said CFP access for Notre Dame.

To translate, it’s a wrap.

No conference for Notre Dame.

Even though Freeman is a rookie head coach, he is a veteran recruiter. He’s also a prolific one. According to 247Sports, Notre Dame’s recruiting classes under Freeman are ranked seventh for 2022, second for 2023 and first for 2024.

That’s a bunch of elite talent on the horizon for the Irish.

Which means they’ll have endless trips to what will continue as an always expanding CFP, which also means they’ll generate many (many, many) more millions of dollars that they won’t have to share with anybody.

You know, as an independent forever.