It’s practically a battle cry across college football whenever anyone invokes the name of Notre Dame.
JOIN A CONFERENCE
Outside of it being annoying and completely ignorant of Notre Dame’s history, and in some ways the history of college football, the phrase itself might be history as well.
The impending expansion of the college football playoff to 24 teams is making some major waves in the sport as the system is changing course. Once the new 24 team playoff is in place, there will be NO more conference championship games. So, essentially, conferences are just scheduling partners with group media rights.
That’s exactly as lame as it sounds.
In a 18 team or 20 team conference, who in the hell is the true conference champion without some wild tiebreakers or just the luck of the scheduling draw? And again… who really cares when there is a massive national playoff on tap?
There really is no point.
The Miami Hurricanes are quickly coming to this realization.
In the "second tier" of college sports' caste system, Miami is positioning itself for a conference move while exploring football independence and fighting against a federal bill.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) October 22, 2026
"If we have to go independent," the president says, "I like our chances."https://t.co/AGBdulm1OU
The Canes, like Florida State and Clemson, are feeling the squeeze of being members of the ACC — a “second tier” conference according to some. They’re looking for a way out, and that way out could be independence.
“If we have to go independent, I like our chances because we are a national brand. I wouldn’t like to do that because scheduling [other sports] is really tough. It’s great for football but what about track, volleyball and the golf team?”
There really is no way of knowing what moves these schools will eventually make (if any) but it’s becoming clearer and clearer, that being in a conference (top tier or not) isn’t anything close to what it used to be. The program who is best suited to move forward in this new era is seemingly the Notre Dame Fighting Irish — who have been independent since day one.
Join a conference. Why? What’s the point? What difference would any of it make as we get into 2027?
You’re right… pretty much none.
If the entire world of college football has come down to maximizing football revenue and the playoff, it makes little sense to tie oneself to a group of schools just get a conference Boy Scout Patch on the uniform.
Independence yesterday. Independence today. Independence forever for Notre Dame, and maybe a few other programs finally figure it out.