tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18832234.post3207531825671832581..comments2023-11-12T05:16:54.244-05:00Comments on The Royal Heffernans: Chumps Sports BowlUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18832234.post-86709041538480483722011-12-05T12:21:44.209-05:002011-12-05T12:21:44.209-05:00I'd still like to be independent, but with the...I'd still like to be independent, but with the way scheduling works, we play all our hardest games in the first 6 weeks, and that ends up killing us and preventing us from competing later on. <br /><br />I favor joining the ACC, and here's why. Everyone talks about our rivalries that we need to keep, but I ask who our rivals are? USC for and Navy for sure, but I would also throw in names like Miami and BC. Why do we play Stanford? Because they are a small private school with academic traditions, and we needed a warm-climate game late in the season. How 'bout we replace them with Duke? But Michigan and MSU are nearby rivals. So are Pitt and Syracuse, who are also going to the ACC. <br /><br />Finally, we played most of an ACC schedule this year with BC, Maryland, and Wake Forest (and soon-to-be-ACC Pitt). The ACC spans from Florida to Massachusetts, and while it doesn't go far west, ND doesn't play many schools west of Indiana that aren't in California. So just play in the ACC, scrap the money from NBC, and join the conference.<br /><br />Listen, football will drive this decision, but for ND it's not entirely about football anymore. Our women's sports are among the best in the country, and every other sport we have would be benefitted by being in the ACC, with schools like North Carolina, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, etc. The Big East is imploding, and I just don't see it as viable for all our non-football sports.Kevinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16799540986290679695noreply@blogger.com