NCAA Conference Expansion: 3 New Reasons for Irish to Consider Big Ten Realignment

In an article by John Taylor of NBC Sports, Pittsburgh and Syracuse may be headed to the ACC:

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"Brett McMurphy of CBSSports.com is reporting Saturday morning that the ACC has received official letters of application from Pittsburgh and Syracuse. A Big East official subsequently told McMurphy in an update to his story that the two schools are likely gone to the ACC."

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With that in mind—and considering the fact that Texas A&M may be gone to the SEC—it appears that college football is trying to build super-conference after super-conference.

So where does that leave Notre Dame?

Well, they are in the Big East for all other sports, but the Big Ten is the most logical when it comes to football.

To that end, here are three new reasons why the Irish should join the Big Ten (or is it now safe to call if the Big 12?)

More Money

Right now most of Notre Dame's TV money comes from NBC, but that's all the Irish get as no other college programs consistently air on NBC.

Joining the Big Ten gives them a lot more exposure on the Big Ten Network, ABC, Fox, ESPN and ESPN 2, among others.

In turn, it will expand their fan base while also making the behind the scenes work a lot easier—i.e. not having to deal with contracts since the conference will be handling the negotiations.

Better Shot at the BCS

In order for Notre Dame to get a BCS bid, a lot of rather confusing things need to happen that aren't worth getting into.

So with that in mind, they're BCS hopes remain alive even more so in the Big Ten.

Why?

Because it's college football's second toughest conference and the fact that it now has a conference championship game means that all the Irish have to do is win their division (either Leaders or Legends) to have a shot at the conference title.

Therefore, despite maybe having three or four regular season losses, if they sneak into the Big Ten title game and win it then an automatic BCS bid can happen even during a down year.

Better Recruits

Let's face it, recruits want to play for something in addition to a national championship.

Conference titles and receiving All-Conference selections only add to the selling point of being in the Big Ten.

Being an independent, all head coach Brian Kelly can do is sell winning a national title. Sorry coach Kelly, but Notre Dame isn't a national title lock every season.

But being in the Big Ten and playing for a conference title, as well as having the opportunity to earn an All-Conference selection, is a lot more enticing.

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