How Will Notre Dame Navigate Its ACC Conundrum?

There's no doubt that in the light of recent CFP events, Notre Dame's relationship with the ACC conference is strained. How strained? Enough that Irish AD Pete Bevacqua stated publicly that the relationship has suffered "permanent damage."

Notre Dame feels that the ACC targeted one of its financial partners with anti-Irish CFP rhetoric. The ACC feels it had an obligation to prop up its full members and that it didn't claim Notre Dame wasn't CFP worthy, just that it wasn't worthy of entry over Miami.

This entire ordeal leaves Notre Dame in a weird place. What does "permanent damage" mean practically moving forward? What are the Irish's scheduling options should they decide to head in another direction? These are difficult questions to answer, but ones that the Notre Dame administration now faces head-on.

STATEMENT from ACC commissioner Jim Phillips on Notre Dame: pic.twitter.com/nNqmDDbphW
— Matt Fortuna (@Matt_Fortuna) December 8, 2025

The "Notre Dame should leave the ACC" crowd

Since Notre Dame's last-minute playoff snub, many in the Irish ecosystem have suggested that if the ACC doesn't respect and value the Irish, then Notre Dame should take its football scheduling in another direction.

Folks in this camp also reference the ACC's woes overall, as the conference is locked into a brutal TV deal long-term, and hasn't had much overall success lately on the field in terms of producing multiple highly competitive teams.

It's very easy for Irish fans, myself included, to react in anger to the CFP selection process by wanting Notre Dame to ditch its partial relationship with the ACC and go in another direction, but what direction would it be? That's the key part of the debate that has no clear answer.

What other direction could Notre Dame go in?

In order for Notre Dame to leave the ACC, before the move is made, the Irish must know what comes next in terms of filling out a competitive schedule. Joining another conference as a full member has long been an option, but is one that would mean giving up independence, something Notre Dame considers to be at the center of what the Irish have been and are.

Another option is for Notre Dame to ditch the ACC agreement and fill out the rest of its schedule as it used to, on its own. How viable is this path in the modern age of college football, where conferences now, more than ever, have something against Notre Dame?

The last remaining option is to continue with the current ACC agreement as is. This is the path of least resistance, but it would expose Bevacqua's "permanent damage" quote as nothing but a public complaint with no action to back it up, making the Irish appear weak and beholden to conference power.

There is no easy answer to this dilemma, but Notre Dame must take some action to try to prevent itself from being in the position it finds itself in now again. It's going to be a long off-season in South Bend, for certain.