Notre Dame has been adamant that it wants to maintain its independence in football despite rumors and speculation about joining the league during the recent historic phase of college football conference realignment and expansion. .
However, according to longtime college football analyst Paul Finebaum, given the current state of the sport as a whole, especially the expanded playoff format, the Fighting Irish may need to change course in the future. It is said that there may be.
“Ultimately, I believe Notre Dame has avoided this issue for a long time,” Finebaum said during an appearance on WJOX in Birmingham.
“Long term I can't imagine them doing that, but I'm talking five, six, seven years down the line. At some point they're going to have to make a decision.”
Notre Dame has a say in the makeup of the expanded playoffs and has a better chance of qualifying in the expanded format, but not being in a conference will ultimately make their path to a national championship more difficult. there is a possibility.
By not being eligible to win a conference title and not being able to take advantage of the first-round bye given to conference champions, the Irish will need to win four straight postseason games to take the top spot. That's after playing 12 regular season games.
However, the team that won the league title would receive a first-round bye in the expanded College Football Playoff in 2024 and 2025, and would again receive a bye if the playoffs were expanded beyond 2026. It is expected that
“Five to 10 years from now, we don't know the exact numbers,” Finebaum said, adding, “I strongly believe that Notre Dame will eventually say, 'Enough is enough. We're coming to the conference.' ” he said.
(Wijose)
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