Notre Dame Football: Can the Irish Ditch History, Tradition and Join the Big Ten

The Notre Dame Football team takes great pride in being an independent football team. They have always been on their own and have a sweet television contract that they don’t have to share with anyone. With their history, and fan following, the Fighting Irish can call their own shots.

The college landscape is rapidly changing and if Notre Dame is ever going to join a conference, that time is now.

It all started last year when Nebraska jumped ship and left the Big 12 for the Big Ten. This started a chain reaction that started the discussion of super conferences. The SEC opened the door for Texas A&M and will soon add another team.

The Pac-10 turned into the Pac-12 by adding Utah and Colorado. They may expand to become even bigger as they are attempting to lure Oklahoma and Texas to head west. With A&M leaving, the Big 12 looks like it will have to reach out to other teams like SMU to stay alive. Texas has a new television contract and does not want to do anything that will disturb that deal. So what does Notre Dame do now?

Notre Dame is a football institution and they can do whatever they want. However, if there was ever a time to join a conference it would be now. The Big Ten is the perfect location for the Irish. They already play the Big Ten on a regular basis and could continue to keep any preexisting deals they have in place.

They could call their own shots and still maintain out-of-conference rivalry games with teams like USC or Stanford. This would give the Irish the automatic BCS shot, one of the most demanding schedules in the country and they would still have the recruiting stranglehold in the Midwest.

Tradition is a wonderful part of Notre Dame Football, but the time to move is now.

James Brown is a B/R Featured Columnist. Feel free to contact James at [e-mail]