Independence

"I believe we are at a point right now where the changes could be relatively small, or they could be seismic. What I have to do along with Jenkins is figure out where the pieces are falling...

What if realignment impacted the shape of the BCS? Also, the Big East has been a great home for us, but if there are fundamental changes to the Big East as a result of realignment, what does that do? What if a few conferences further distinguish themselves from the field? What are the competitive ramifications of that?...

That's why I'm spending 50 percent of my time right now talking to people... While we're paying attention, we're trying like heck to maintain our football independence...

You could each invent a scenario that would force our hand."

And with those recent statements by Jack Swarbrick, the first brick in the wall that is Notre Dame's independence in football has fallen. Notre Dame has been a proud independent school since it's first football team laced up the spikes in 1887. Numerous flirtations with conference membership have occurred over the years (as recently as an official invite to the Big Ten in 1999), but Notre Dame has always held strong to its independent tradition. However, the current state of college football, along with the comments by our AD have convinced me that our independence is coming to an end.

It seems inevitable that both the Big Ten and Pac 10 will soon add members to increase their conference sizes to 12. That allows for the magical Conference Championship Game that brings millions to the SEC, ACC and Big 12. Just how that realignment goes could lead to the seismic ripple that Swarbrick hinted at, similar to the last round of realignment that gobbled up the last of the major independents.

It may just come down to money. Right now, Notre Dame makes $9 million a year from it's NBC contract. If we qualify for a BCS game, we get an extra $4.5 million. If we don't, we get $1 million. That gives us a max TV payout of $13.5 million, but more likely $10 million. Our new NBC contract doesn't give us a raise, and runs through 2015.

Compare that to a Big Ten school? The Big Ten Network gives each Big Ten member over $18 million a year. They also divide the BCS pot evenly, which usually adds another $2 million per team. That's over $20 million a year. Can you imagine how much more money adding a 12th member with a championship game would add? The Big Ten Network would only make more money - especially if #12 is Notre Dame.

It's really too bad. The Big Ten is already a maligned conference with regards to national respect. Joining would certainly force Notre Dame out of its NBC contract, and we would lose a big advantage that we own in national recruiting. With more regional TV exposure, we would be forced to compete even more directly with Ohio State and Michigan for top recruits. I fear we would go the way of Penn State and other former independent greats. Take a look at this list:

• Florida State
• Georgia Tech
• Miami
• Penn State
• Pittsburgh
• South Carolina
• Virginia Tech

With the exception of Virginia Tech, every one of these schools was better before it was swallowed up by a conference. You could also argue for Florida State, but I think their mediocrity since 1999 proves my point. If Notre Dame joins a conference, it may doom us to a future similar to Penn State. Win a Big Ten title every 10 years, and kiss our hopes for a National Championship goodbye.

As long as we can keep scheduling quality BCS conference opponents, and keep a strong TV contract that puts our games on national television, I say screw the Big Ten. Our football revenue goes beyond TV dollars, as does our school identity. I would like to think our future is more important than a big paycheck. I'm probably just being naive though.