Notre Dame Football: Irish Won't Return to Glory Until They Join a Conference

This is not 1988 nor 1991. Notre Dame and their humongous fanbase should be happy with a Champ Sports Bowl berth against the equally yesterday Florida State Seminoles.

The days are gone when Lou Holtz and the like could show up at a kid's door and say "we're Notre Dame, you should be honored to play here." The TV contract doesn't carry nearly as much weight. The Irish's games are genuinely second rate when compared to the SEC, Big Ten, Pac-12 and Big 12.

The number of kids that will buy into the mystique has decreased. Lowering academic standards, as Irish and Packers legend Paul Hornung once suggested, isn't the answer. However, joining the Big Ten, Big East or Conference USA would be.

I know, I hate the new conferences with a disregard to geography. Unfortunately, this is the world the Irish and every other football program lives and competes in. 

Joining the Big Ten makes the most sense. The thought has been long discussed—and recently brought up—in light of the changing landscape of college football.

Geographically, it is the best fit. Notre Dame already has established rivalries with Big Ten teams like Michigan State and Michigan. It is also easy to see how rivalries could be established with most every other Big Ten school, namely Purdue, Indiana, Wisconsin and Ohio State.

Joining Conference USA could also be interesting. The Irish would be the No. 1 draw, but that is also why it's unlikely. Furthermore, the conference is considered second tier and conference superiority doesn't carry an automatic bid to a BCS bowl game.

The Big East makes some sense because the basketball team is a part of that conference. The Big East would also carry the automatic BCS bowl bid the school would require to join any conference. However, the Big East doesn't offer anything the Big Ten doesn't, and it is also void of the ready made rivalries.

Notre Dame in the Big Ten is good for college football, and it is the only way for the Irish to remain competitively relevant.