Notre Dame to Play 10-Game ACC Schedule, Compete for Conference Championship

Notre Dame is independent no more—at least temporarily.

The ACC announced Wednesday that the Fighting Irish will join the conference for the 2020 season and play 10 games against ACC teams. Notre Dame will be eligible to compete for the conference championship as well.

The move comes amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced Power Five conferences to amend their schedules for the upcoming year. The Big Ten was the first to announce a conference-only slate, and the Pac-12 followed the move a day later.

ACC teams will play 11 games, 10 of which will be against conference teams.

ESPN's Andrea Adelson reported July 24 that this idea was under consideration. Notre Dame has remained independent in football throughout its history, but a move to the ACC was the most sensible move for all parties involved.

The Fighting Irish already lost games against Stanford, USC and Wisconsin when the Big Ten and Pac-12 altered their schedules. Being an independent school when Power Five conferences are pulling up the drawbridge wasn't an advantageous position. Now, Notre Dame needs to find only one nonconference opponent to reach the 11-game threshold.

Adelson explained how welcoming Notre Dame as a member for football—the school is already affiliated with the ACC for all other sports—would allow the ACC to avoid a major scheduling headache as well.

Conference officials were looking at an approach that allowed teams to have one nonconference game to maintain annual rivalries. Had Notre Dame balked at joining the ACC for 2020, it would've potentially jeopardized the ability for Clemson (South Carolina), Louisville (Kentucky) and Georgia Tech (Georgia) to face off against their biggest rivals from the SEC.

The ACC will begin its football season during the week of Sept. 7-12, and the conference championship will be on either Dec. 12 or 19 in Charlotte, North Carolina.