Notre Dame Needs to Tell Big Ten Conference “No Thanks”
Notre Dame needs to say no to the Big 10 Conference. Notre Dame already gets every single one of their games on national television, something that no other college team can claim. So what does Notre Dame gain out of this deal? Strength of schedule? Last I looked; Notre Dame doesn’t have a chance at the BCS Championship because they were 6-6. It has nothing to do with whom they play. So the Big Ten conference can’t bribe them with good opponents. In fact, Notre Dame has it easier than anybody when it comes to scheduling. They aren’t held back by having to play certain opponents and can therefore play whichever team they want to. For another team, that might make it hard to schedule enough opponents, but this is Notre Dame. They were once the know all, end all of college football and have remained one of the elites even with disappointing season after season. If Notre Dame calls up a school and asks if they want to schedule a game, the athletic director puts the phone on hold and does some cartwheels.
The Big Ten is looking to expand and add a 12th team to their conference. Yes, I said 12th team. The Big Ten currently is made up of Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa, Penn State, Minnesota, Purdue, Indiana, Illinois, Northwestern and Wisconsin. For those of you that just always assumed there were 10 teams in the Big Ten, notice that there are eleven schools on that list. In 1991, the Big Ten Conference added Penn State, to bring their total up to 11 teams in the division.
Notice I said that Notre Dame going to the Big Ten was a horrible idea for Notre Dame, but it would be incredible for the Big Ten Conference. The addition of Notre Dame would make all the sense in the world for the Big Ten. It would give them 12 teams instead of 11, which means they could split the conference up into two different divisions.
What does that mean? Fans will get treated to a Big Ten Championship game. Other than Ohio State’s recent attempts at winning a BCS title against the likes of Florida and LSU, the biggest knock on the Big Ten Conference has been that they do not have a championship game.
The Big Ten would be wise to add a 12th team, and it’s obvious why Notre Dame is their first choice. The problem is that the Big Ten would see all the benefits of such an event and Notre Dame might even lose out some because of it. If Notre Dame wanted to play in a conference, they could’ve done it any time in the past few decades. Notre Dame is such a big draw that the Big 12 and SEC would probably welcome them with open arms and South Bend, Indiana isn’t exactly close to where the other schools are located.
The Big Ten needs to get working on a different kind of wish list if they want to add a 12th team. Missouri, Iowa State, Rutgers, Cincinnati and Syracuse have been thrown out there as possibilities. Good luck with those teams Big Ten, because the best thing for Notre Dame is to just stay put.
