Notre Dame Football: Irish Should Hope 4-Team Playoff Plan Falls Through

Conference expansion and consolidation have colored the landscape over the last few seasons, and with another wave of conference moves being discussed by WAC members it seems we're not out of the woods just yet.

Throw in the most recent move of the Pac-12 to back the four-team playoff, and by 2014 we will be staring at a very different college football landscape from a conference and championship standpoint.

Leagues are changing, lines are being drawn and leagues like the Big Ten and Pac-12 are pushing for a "Conference Champions only" four-team playoff. A guideline like that would eliminate the possibility of the rematch a la 2012 BCS Title game for the SEC and stop teams who lose their conference title games from remaining in contention for a title.

But where exactly does that leave the Fighting Irish?

You see, like it or not, the Irish are part of the fabric of college football as evidenced currently by the BCS provision that allows Notre Dame to not only draw a million a year just for membership but also the automatic birth for any Irish team finishing in the Top Eight.

To be fair, an eighth-ranked Irish team doesn't need a concession that they'd be snapped up in a heartbeat to get the fans there, but the rule exists nonetheless.

With the new plans coming out for the four-team playoff and conferences pushing for a champions only, there seems to be a lot of questioning about what this all actually means for the Fighting Irish.

The way it stands, there are really only two options: Join a conference or seek out a concession that would allow for their inclusion in the party.

The problem with joining a conference is this is not what the bulk of Notre Dame personnel want to do.

The Irish are independent. They've always been independent and the ability to call their own shots in football is near and dear to their hearts.

Joining the Big Ten or, more likely, the ACC would strip Notre Dame of at least a portion of their schedule, disallow for late-season contests against the likes of Stanford and Southern Cal or they'd be forfeiting their early games against Michigan and Michigan State. Either way it shakes out, the Irish would be one of many, which is not nearly as special as being "the one."

Fighting through the Big Ten or the ACC also means going to a conference championship game, something Notre Dame, under the current system, has had the advantage of avoiding.

On the side of the concession, the first step would be for schools to agree to the move. Leagues like the Pac-12, ACC, Big Ten and SEC, all with the aforementioned league title game, would essentially be giving a break to a team simply because they asked for one.

While the sport does benefit from a solid Notre Dame presence, the name of the game for conferences is about controlling their counterparts while trying to get as much shine as they possibly can. Helping out Notre Dame is not exactly on anyone's list, which we saw in 2005 when the BCS members voted to eliminate Notre Dame from the full share upon BCS trips.

In this discussion, the only concession the Irish could truly ask for is that a Top Four Irish team be allowed into the playoff, and even then schools will be looking around at their Top 10 conference champions wondering how they can sneak them into the playoffs.

To put it in a more practical application, teams like No. 5 Oregon and No. 10 Wisconsin from the 2011 season won't exactly be Gung-ho on missing out on the four-team playoff spot due to them if the conference championship requirement goes through.

Basically, the Irish better hope something happens in the way of BCS reform because they're speeding for a tough road back to greatness where national titles are concerned.

Getting the concession won't be easy as every team is going to try and claw their way to allow their conference champion into the game. The only other option is leaving the ranks of the Independent, and that would put the Irish in the land of "being like everyone else."

And throughout history, that's not what the Irish have been about.