Notre Dame is still too good for the Big Ten
It's hard to fit inside of ND Stadium these days with all of that pride in there.
According to ESPN.com, the University of Notre Dame has no interest in joining the Big Ten conference any time soon. This was stated by athletic director Jack Swarbrick.
Here’s the full article from ESPN.com:
The Big Ten’s decision to study expansion brings back an oft-asked question — would Notre Dame consider joining the conference, which includes a number of its regional football rivals?
The answer is no, athletic director Jack Swarbrick told the Chicago Tribune.
“Our strong preference is to remain the way we are,” Swarbrick said, according to the report. “Independence is a big part of the tradition of the program and our identity. We’d sure like to try to maintain it.”
This is the one reason why every college football fan in the world should hate ND. Back in the 80’s your elitist attitude was acceptable because you were, well….good. Now you suck. The fact if you would join a conference is that it will force you to play quality opponents throughout the year and compare yourself head-to-head with other Midwest schools, and that scares the living piss out of you.
Joining the Big Ten would be the smartest thing that you could possibly do for you football program. Winning Big Ten titles and having a chance to compete in the Rose Bowl on a yearly basis would boost recruiting efforts without a doubt. Guess what? Your NBC contract doesn’t mean diddly because nearly every damn school is on regional or national television on a weekly basis.
ND needs to suck up what is left of their pride, wise up and join the Big Ten. It is what is best for its program in the long run.
Berg-Dizzle
K.J.
Mr. Erin Andrews
Superman
Screams of Gus Johnson 
Sorry buddy, but this just doesnt make business sense. #1 If you were ND, why on earth would you want to play for a conferenece and just become 1 of 12? Now, you are the New York Yankees of College football even when you suck!! #2 The NBC deal doesn’t bring only exposure, which it brings a lot of, but also millions of dollars.
ND has actually admitted that they would make more money in the Big Ten from media contracts. The Big Ten network is a cash cow.
I think it should be a rule that a college team has to have a conference to play in. Why do 117 other schools have conferences and ND doesn’t? They’re the only big time program to be conference-free and I think it just doesn’t make any sense.
(Army and Navy also don’t, but that is primarily because the Patriot League doesn’t have football teams.)
I don’t think that ND’s exposure would suffer from joining a conference either. Do the Yankees suffer from being in the AL East? Is USC struggling because they are part of the Pac-10?
Doesn’t Bradley, who has a very rich basketball tradition similar to ND’s former football greatness (granted not as big of a program), benefit from being in the Missouri Valley? When the MVC has a great year, it boosts all of the teams in the league.
ND could sell to recruits that they play guaranteed games against powerhouses like Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa and Wisconsin on a yearly basis.
If ND joined the Big Ten full time with all of its programs it would be the best possible thing it could do, especially since most of its sports are in the crumbling Big East.