Notre Dame Has Power to Save Big 12, Halt Expansion: What will they Do?

Jack Swarbrick, the athletic director of Notre Dame, was invited to sit in on the Big Ten conference realignment meetings this weekend, despite the fact that Notre Dame is not an official member of the Big Ten...yet.

That needs to be the focal point of discussion here, because whether or not the Irish choose to jump into the Big Ten now or later, they will be in the Big Ten soon.

With the massive shift in college football that is currently consuming sports journalists from coast to coast, one observation has yet to receive a full and thorough examination.

According to prominent sources from the Big Ten, if Notre Dame would simply join the league, then the commissioner/athletic directors would be perfectly happy holding the conference at 12 teams. And that would mean that Nebraska and Missouri would have no place to go, so by default, the Big 12 would stay together.

The Pac-10 would expand, but it would be very modest: likely an acquisition of Colorado and Utah in order to bring the league up to the 12 teams, the major-conference average.

The other scenario involves Notre Dame clinging to its own traditions; in that particular case, Nebraska and Missouri would likely both head to the Big Ten while the Big 12 South would bolt to the Pac-10.

While this hasn't received much speculation, it is also possible that the Pac-10 could absorb the entire Big 12 South (including Baylor) plus Colorado and Utah, making it an 18 team league.

Essentially, the Pac-10 would force the hands of the Big Ten and SEC in one of the craziest domino effects sports has ever seen.

Does Swarbrick actually think that Notre Dame could survive as an independent in an age where conference television contracts would dwarf Notre Dame's?

How about trying to schedule big games with his traditional opponents, such as USC and Michigan, only to find out that their schedule is tied up because they have rigorous in-conference matchups and want a shot at a championship?

Notre Dame would, at that point, have to join the Big Ten to survive in the college football world. No one could escape the grasp of a major conference if they wanted a shot at relevance.

The national championship would be decided by a plus-one tournament between the four major conference champions. No exception would be made to include Notre Dame in those discussions if they managed to win a certain number of games against the MWC (who else would they get to play?).

So as the writing for Notre Dame's independence is on the wall, the question seems to be when will the Irish swallow their pride?

If they do it sooner rather than later, they could be responsible for saving the Big 12 and holding college football, as the world knows it, together.

If they wait, then college football is going to turn into a profit monster unlike anything this country has ever seen, so far as college athletics is concerned.

Of course, Notre Dame die-hards are going to claim that an independent legacy for a school with such a storied program could exist in the new world, but in their hearts, they know they're hoping against hope. This transformation isn't going to spare anyone or anything.

Does Notre Dame see this coming?

What direction does Notre Dame want college football to go in?

They are, in a strange and ironic twist of fate for the old guard, the one team whose actions can decide the entire future of college football.

Only they need to make their move quickly, because come the Big 12's Friday deadline for Nebraska and Missouri, there won't be any turning back.