Big Ten should pull invitation to Notre Dame and stop playing the Irish

Notre Dame won’t be joining the Big Ten any time soon. It’s time the Big Ten stopped waiting.

Sports Business Journal reported that Notre Dame “should expect around $60 million from a new TV deal,” which would be a significant increase from the $25 million the school will receive from NBC through 2025. NBC and Notre Dame are expected to keep this partnership going as the network does business with the Big Ten.

This is the part where the Big Ten and Commissioner Kevin Warren should throw up twos and say goodbye to Notre Dame forever. Seriously, no more open invitations for the Irish and no more Big Ten opponents either.

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Whatever happens with the expansion of the college football playoffs and the potential for superconferences over the next decade, Notre Dame, as a member of the Big Ten, shouldn’t be a part of it. Call the SEC next time. Ask Brian Kelly for advice on southern accents. That’s the hard line Warren and the Big Ten should take.

Of course, NBC will not allow the Big Ten to freeze. The appeal of adding Notre Dame to the Big Ten will still be there. The idea resurfaced when USC — the Irish’ historic rival — along with UCLA, left the Pac-12 for the Big Ten on June 30. Calling for the Irish to join a conference, particularly the Big Ten, is a regional game in a new-leaning national conference. Big Ten Network analyst Joshua Perry knows what Notre Dame brings.

“You’re going to add a ridiculous fan base,” Perry told Sporting News at the Big Ten Media Days. “That’s where all the stuff starts. You want to make sure you get the most viewers, but you’re talking about the story and there’s a lot of it going on. The Big Ten is a traditional conference when you look at the brands that are aligned and the history of those brands. You get academics, which is important for the Big Ten. You get Notre Dame Michigan. You get Ohio State-Notre Dame. You get USC-Notre Dame. They get Notre Dame-Purdue, which isn’t a big game for a lot of people, but there’s a lot to celebrate.”

Why wouldn’t Notre Dame want to celebrate all of this? Seriously, the Big Ten have a new media rights deal worth $8 billion over seven years. The Irish could attend a conference that boasts superior branding power with Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Nebraska and USC.

That is not enough? Therefore, if the Irish do not come to the conference now, the Big Ten should stop scheduling the Irish for the foreseeable future. Show Notre Dame what they can lose.

With new coach Marcus Freeman, the Irish are finally getting serious about a national recruiting war with Ohio State, which has dominated the Rust Belt in the 21st century. The September 3 matchup at The Shoe could easily become the most-watched game of the year, and it will be the same for the South Bend comeback game in 2023. This has always had the potential to become college football’s finest rivalry. Don’t give Notre Dame the recruiting spotlight.

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The Big Ten could dashed any hope of a renewal of the Michigan rivalry – Notre Dame’s twin brother. This game drew huge ratings every September and spawned several unforgettable moments, from Rocket Ismail to Denard Robinson. Freeman vs. Jim Harbaugh? don’t let it happen

That’s not all the Big Ten could shut down. State of Michigan and Purdue. Never again. Then they could tell USC to stop playing Notre Dame. Next? Stanford, who has been mentioned as a candidate to join the Big Ten if it continues to venture along the West Coast. Warren cannot allow the Irish to continue dismissing potential membership; not to mention using the Big Ten expansion to capitalize on their own TV deal.

Didn’t that happen? In fact, the Big Ten will likely be encouraged to go the other way and partner with Notre Dame. According to the SBJ report: “Notre Dame would remain independent if it agreed to a new rights deal. But his association with NBC and NBC’s new association with the Big Ten — make it likely that the Fighting Irish would add more Big Ten games to his schedule.”

NBC will encourage the Big Ten and Notre Dame to play nice — and play on the big stage every now and then. They’ll be using these Ohio State-Notre Dame ratings from this year’s game as a proof of concept.

Notre Dame’s future schedule suggests exactly that. There’s the comeback game with Ohio State in 2023. The Irish have a five-game contract with Purdue from 2024-28 and the rescheduled matchup at Lambeau Field against Wisconsin in 2026 that was canceled due to COVID-19. There’s also Michigan State in 2026-27, Indiana in 2030-31, and Michigan in 2033-34.

You must hand it over to Notre Dame and athletic director Jack Swabrick at this point. The Irish watched the SEC pull Oklahoma and Texas out of the Big 12 and the Big Ten pull USC and UCLA out of Pac-12, and they didn’t panic. Notre Dame still gets everything it needs — and more.

The Irish still have an annual five-game deal with the ACC until 2036, and as long as that deal lasts, the conference has credibility at number 3 in the pecking order. Miami, Florida State and Clemson can stay, and Notre Dame is still reaping the benefits of the basketball first conference.

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Notre Dame is keeping that TV deal, which in conjunction with NBC, could push its annual take-home count to $75 million, and they’re getting a high-viewership window. The Irish can keep their traditional schedule with five ACC games, the Navy game, USC, Stanford and a rotation of opponents that keeps the schedule national. The Irish also don’t have to share power at the Big Ten table with the states of Ohio and Michigan. You saw exactly how that power struggle with Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska in the Big 12 went. None of these schools will be attending this conference anytime soon.

The last part is great too. The final expansion plan for the College Football Playoffs allowed Notre Dame to enter the CFP without attending a conference championship game. The catch, of course, was that the Irish would not get a bye in the first round. If the 12-team playoffs become a reality, chances are they’ll stay the same. Why would the Irish want anything else at this point?

Yes, Notre Dame is looking good, at least through a rights-granting deal with the ACC that runs through 2035-36. Perhaps at this point the idea of ​​the Irish attending a conference becomes a serious issue again – and you know which conference they will be connected to first.

Will Notre Dame ever take this offer seriously?

Just go back to the end of the 20th century for the answer. When the Big Ten and Jim Delany approached the Irish to become the 12th member, Notre Dame’s board of trustees turned down the offer. The New York Times reported that Delany said Irish people would not be considered again.

Charles Lennon, then director of Notre Dame’s alumni association, told the Times, “Our brand name is special. We’d rather be one of one than one of 12.”

Or one of 14, 16, 20, or 24. It doesn’t matter who adds the Big Ten next. Notre Dame has shown that they are independent and do not want this relationship.

Why would the Big Ten ever wait for that call again?