Notre Dame to ACC

Few are surprised Notre Dame decided to leave the Big East for another conference. The Big East is very unstable and is spreading beyond the East Coast by adding San Diego State. It doesn't make much sense and the one time prestige of playing Connecticut, Syracuse and Pitt for the Big East title is no longer there. Pitt and Syracuse have also declared their decision to leave for the ACC and Notre Dame follow suit nearly one year later.

Many thought it made much sense for the Irish to join the Big Ten. It already plays B1G teams in football on a yearly basis. It is in the center of Big Ten country making travel for Olympic Sports easier. But the Big Ten didn't offer Notre Dame for all sports other than football and hockey like the ACC did. But is it a bad idea the Big Ten is left out. I say no.

 

Travel will continue to be difficult and expensive for the Olympic sports. Imagine the road trips to Miami (Fla) and Syracuse - much longer than bus trips to East Lansing and Ann Arbor. Men's and women's basketball will enter perhaps the best conference for competition, but will it make it more difficult to gain the necessary wins for entrance in to the dance?

Was it wrong for the Big Ten to not offer Notre Dame inclusion for all sports but football? I say no. I don't see what the B1G has to gain. There is no sport that makes the Big Ten instantly better. Football may add some credibility to the Irish program, but it wouldn't make the conference any better. The only reason Notre Dame should've entered the Big Ten is "it makes sense." 

The ACC is a definite improvement for Notre Dame from where it came from, but the road will become much tougher with trips to North Carolina, Maryland as well as the stretch of teams from Miami to Syracuse.