Notre Dame has been featured a lot in recent articles for BellyUp Sports, but there is good reason behind this. They are a stand out. Not that they are the best team in the country, but they are consistent. Year-in and year-out they have been, at the very least, consistent. Yes, the don’t make the top 25 every year like some teams, but they are still very good and a force to be reckoned with. This brings up the question, “Are conferences a detriment to the game?”
Are they necessary?
Most people’s initial reactions would be, “yes, duh.” We need conferences to separate regions of the US so that colleges will play other schools closest to one another. Now there are outliers; teams being far away from the other schools in that particular conference. We aren’t talking about those school as they are exceptions rather that the rule. As mentioned in an article by Kev, Notre Dame could join 1 of 2 conferences: the ACC or the Big 10. We will not get into what he figures, but we will focus on what a conference means for Notre Dame. The question to ask is: Does ND need a conference?
Independents
Short answer: No. ND is an independent and will remain so for the foreseeable future. They are criticized more harshly because the have wonky schedules each year and the inconsistency can lead to assumptions that they are playing softer schedules. I disagree. If Alabama suddenly became independent, they would still play those schools closest to them and they would still be dominant. Scheduled opponents won’t change all that much. You can’t ship one team across the country for an entire season and expect them to perform week after week. Notre Dame is playing the teams that are scheduled. They don’t care. They just want to win, and who doesn’t? I genuinely believe that the CFP could function without conferences.
Logistics
Well, yes, conferences do makes things a lot easier. Scheduling can be stream lined, difficulty of schedule can be better assessed, and a more consistent season is followed. That is not to say that ND has a problem with scheduling. They play roughly 5 ACC teams per year, but being a little out of the way from that particular conference can have its problems. This year in particular is a little wild. They have games scheduled across the country. From USC (Cali) to Boston College. You couldn’t get farther games if you tried (Ok maybe Hawaii).
Answer!!
Eh… It’s nice to see a teams as influential and prominent as Notre Dame fight it out over the country. And while other teams such as the Army Black Knights and UMass Amherst aren’t nearly as prominent in football, they still play a regularly changing schedule that is fun and exciting for fan bases of said programs as well as rival/surroundings programs because it offers new faces to the landscape. Having these teams be independent is fun and if I’m honest, I’d like to see a few more high profile teams go independent. Maybe Stanford or Alabama. That would really throw a wrench into the system that I would love to see. Think of the chaos that would cause.
