If the University of Notre Dame is forced to move to one of the super conferences, they have to go to the ACC. The ACC will allow Notre Dame to keep some semblance of a national football team. The ACC has teams from the Northeast all the way down to the South and Notre Dame resides in the Midwest. This would be the best choice for Notre Dame if it wants to keep from being considered a Midwest school.
The Big 10 would not be the way to go. I could tell you how academically ND does not fit and that would be true, but really this is about trying to stay as a national program and the BIG 10 would keep Notre Dame from having that distinction.
The BIG 10 is controlled by Ohio State and Michigan and I am sure one conversation with Northwestern would let Notre Dame know that this is not the conference for them.
However, the ACC has several schools that are in line with Notre Dame. They even have the only other Catholic school that is playing division-1 football. I believe that ND would find this conference best not only for its football team, but for its Olympic sports as well.
Notre Dame definitely prefers independence for football, but they will have a hard time maintaining independence for its football program with the way things are going. When the time comes, likely in less than 5 years, Notre Dame would be wise to join the ACC. This would put their football team as close to a national program as they can hope to get.
The football is at a higher level than the Big 10 and the basketball is better also. The baseball is tremendous. It would give the Olympic sports a chance to thrive to a level Notre Dame has always envisioned.
Notre Dame would be wise to join the ACC if they are indeed forced to join a conference. I believe this is an inevitable course that Notre Dame will have to navigate.
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