A meeting between the two biggest and best conferences isn’t good news for Notre Dame football.
The Notre Dame football team prioritizes remaining as independent as possible. However, while the program has continued to strike deals that allow them to conduct business as usual, things are changing in that regard.
Would running the risk of basically being shut out of the College Football Playoffs every year be the thing that finally spurs them to join a conference? It looks like the Big Ten and SEC are about to test that theory. The two conferences are expected to meet soon that meeting doesn’t seem like it’s going be a good thing for the irish.
The Notre Dame football team has rejected the Big Ten multiple times as the conference sought to add them. If the meeting results in the change that the two conferences desire, it may be time to actually listen.
Heather Dinich of ESPN reported on one of the key themes of the two leagues’ upcoming meeting next week.
Notre Dame football should be on high alert
“Sources in both leagues told ESPN on Monday they would prefer to have potentially four automatic bids each to the playoff when the next contract begins in 2026,” according to Dinich. “CFP leaders have yet to decide what the playoffs would look like after this season and next. Some indicated they needed to know that before making any judgments on future scheduling collaborations.
Four automatic bids from the SEC and Big Ten would leave only four other slots open. It appears that the Big 12 and ACC will demand at least one apiece. That would leave only two bids for Notre Dame and G5.
It is possible that the playoffs will be expanded to 16, as has already been discussed. However, this does not imply the Irish would be any better off, as it appears like the ACC and Big 12 would both desire at least two autobids in that scenario.
The final conclusion is that the playoffs do not appear to be in a format that would benefit Notre Dame football if it remains independent.
