Is Notre Dame Hitting the Panic Button????

I know this may be hard for some swallow, but Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick's comments last week about the possibility of having to join a conference in the future was much more than a thought, it was a plea.

What is the plea for you might ask? It is a plea for the Big Ten Conference to recruit Notre Dame hard to join when they expand, and equally important it is a plea for the Big Ten to only expand by one team this time around.

I know this sounds crazy, but there is a lot to be lost by Notre Dame if they do not eventually Join. First of all, and some would say most importantly, the money would be a lot better in the Big Ten than as an independent. Remember, the Big Ten Network brings in a LOT of money. The Big Ten also has a contract with ABC/ESPN bringing in a good chunk of money. When the conference expands, it will only bring in more too. If the conference adds Pittsburgh, Missouri or Nebraska, they add a nice following of people to the conference. If they add Rutgers, they have a chance to try and tap the city of some college fans. Sure its hard to get people to watch Rutgers when they host South Florida, but if OSU came to town, people would watch. The Big Ten will also add a conference Championship game, which we know brings in a large sum of money.

Notre Dame does do pretty well with their NBC deal, and if they make a BCS game they get to keep all of the check right now. Not to mention they really do not need money, they are Notre Dame. The fact is though, no matter how well off they are they can always use more money.

Pride might be able to overcome the desire for a little bigger paycheck, and Notre Dame is VERY proud of being an independent. They are outright snobs about it. I don't like it. A lot of people don't. People who are fans of the team are though, whether we like it or not, so we have to deal with it. With the push for a Playoff in the future though to determine a National Champion, and with the Big Ten and Pac 10 looking at expansion (not to mention any other conference could at anytime) pride is also pushing Notre Dame to join a conference. If there is a playoff with eight teams I can GUARANTEE that everyone not named Notre Dame will make sure that the top team from each power conference and the next two best teams (most likely determined by the BCS ratings) get in. There will be no sweet deal like Notre Dame has now with the BCS where they get in when they should be playing in some bowl before New Years Day. The Power conferences are where all the money is it, lets face it. They will make sure that in a year like we just had Florida would still be in the tournament if Boise St or TCU had lost along the way. On top of that, Notre Dame will not be able to get as high in the BCS as the power conferences expand. Just look at last year. A one loss Notre Dame team would have been the second team left out. Florida would have finished ranked ahead of them because the SEC was too strong. When Michigan and OSU were undefeated going into the season finale the same situation would have arisen.

With all of this going on, there is just too much against Notre Dame to stay independent.

So, this brings us to the point of the story, Notre Dame is panicking. They now realize they need the Big Ten, whether now or int he near future. They are too proud to ask to be let in though, so they are putting it out there so the conference comes to them. If they are not ready to join yet, they can at least have discussions behind closed doors making sure the Big Ten knows they are intrigued. Right now Notre Dame is afraid that a scenario might arise where three teams like Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Missouri, Nebraska or Syracuse might all want to join. They might all actually try to get in, knowing the shift is going to happen (and knowing the Big Ten Network is growing bigger and bigger). If the Big Ten were to take three teams, that would almost definitely lock Notre Dame out for good. Then Notre Dame is stuck fighting for themselves against the mighty conferences or having to join the Big East in football, which they DO NOT want to do, especially if Pitt leaves. If the conference knows Notre Dame wants to join in a few years though, they will only expand by one team leaving the door open.

That is right, Notre Dame is panicking because they don't want to locked out of the Big Ten, but at the same time they don't want to swallow their pride and admit it, so by coming out with the statements he did last week, Jack Swarbrick is hoping that the Big Ten comes at them with what the school can say was "an offer they couldn't refuse".

For the record, for the good of the Big Ten my first choice for expansion would be Notre Dame, followed by Pitt, Mizzou, Nebraska, Rutgers and Iowa State. Texas makes no sense for all of the sports other than football and men's basketball. Finally, one team is enough. 12 teams is perfect because each team plays their division rivals every year and plays half of the other division every year. 14 teams is too many to keep the rivalries, even if they go to nine conference games a year.