Notre Dame joining ACC in all sports but football, hockey

The move may cost the Irish some traditional opponents in football, as a Notre Dame official said the school's top priorities in football scheduling moving forward will be to retain a West Coast presence -- games against USC and Stanford -- and the annual game with Navy. That means Notre Dame's games against some of its Midwest opponents could be in danger.

The timing of the departure is "very murky," a Notre Dame official said. The earliest Notre Dame could leave the Big East without penalty is 2015.

The Notre Dame officials said the move will align the university with more like-minded schools in markets up and down the East Coast in which Notre Dame wants to gain exposure. Notre Dame had flirted with a scheduling arrangement with the Big 12 and joining that conference in other sports, but this move appears more logical than playing games in obscure Midwest markets.

"In any short-term way there's no financial benefit," the official said. "If we wanted to do something for money we would have joined the Big Ten. What it's really about is postseason play."

The official added: "It's a really good fit academically. There are sports that we're going to play, the non-football sports are very good and they're going to test us."

The ACC also announced another important move to sure up the future of its conference, as the presidents upped the league's exit fee to $50 million. While there was rampant speculation earlier this summer that schools like Florida State, Miami and Clemson could go to the Big 12, this decision essentially ends the threat of an ACC school leaving for another league.