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Notre Dame Has A Lot To Gain - And Lose - By Joining The ACC In 2020

Notre Dame has plenty to gain, and perhaps even more to lose, by playing in the ACC this season
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ACC commissioner John Swofford made it very clear from the beginning of the pandemic the league’s relationship with Notre Dame would remain strong. When the Big Ten and Pac 12 went to conference-only schedules the ACC welcomed Notre Dame into the league with open arms.

The full-time football marriage is expected to be for just one season, and one of the benefits is Notre Dame is eligible for the ACC title game and the Orange Bowl. For the ACC the benefits are obvious, the league adds a team that has gone 33-6 over the last three seasons and made the College Football Playoff in 2018. It adds a program that will certainly improve the league’s ratings.

Notre Dame adds football credibility to a league that desperately needs it. The gap between Clemson and everyone else is enormous, but in 2020 if the Tigers win the ACC and run the table it will mean at least one win over a recent CFP program, and could mean two wins.

There is little to lose for the ACC. If Notre Dame somehow wins the league championship it doesn’t really diminish the league’s reputation, and it could likely increase the incentive for Notre Dame to join the league.

For Notre Dame, this is the program’s first ever opportunity to compete for a league title. Notre Dame certainly has a manageable schedule, with just one league opponent winning more than eight games last season, and the Irish get Clemson at home. Notre Dame’s 10 ACC opponents combined for a 70-56 record in 2019, and if you remove the Tigers they were just 56-59. That’s a schedule Notre Dame should dominate, even with several teams improving this fall.

But Notre Dame also has a lot to lose. In fact, I’d argue Notre Dame has a lot more to lose than it has to gain from a reputation standpoint. If Notre Dame wins the league it would certainly provide the program with a boost, but I’d be willing to bet the perception and reaction will be more geared towards bashing Clemson and calling the Tigers overrated than it would be about giving Notre Dame respect.

That would be an unfair and inappropriate response, but does anyone doubt that this would be the dominant message from most in the media who bashed Clemson last season and love taking shots at Notre Dame?

The only thing that could change that would be Notre Dame going to the CFP and actually winning a game and at least being respectable in the title game.

If Notre Dame struggles in the league, or finishes lower than second, it will be a black eye for the program. The fact the ACC is considered inferior to the SEC, Big Ten and even the Big 12 means Notre Dame not dominating every program not named Clemson would diminish the Irish’s standing as a title contender or a tier two program.

Everyone that looks to rip Notre Dame for being independent, and everyone that wrongly says the Irish play easy schedules because they aren’t in a league would be validated. I’m not saying that would be justified, but we will see that reaction.

The fact is Notre Dame’s schedule is solid but far from challenging after Clemson. If we’re being honest, there isn’t a team on the schedule after Clemson that has a better roster than Notre Dame. None of those programs are coming off an 11-2 season with a head coaching going into his 11th season. Notre Dame needs to win nine league games this year, that is the only way the program can argue that it handled its business and beat inferior programs, and the contest against Clemson must be competitive.

That doesn’t mean it will be easy. Road games against Pittsburgh and North Carolina will be challenging, and both programs can beat the Irish if they don’t bring at least their B game. Florida State and Louisville are two home games that will require Notre Dame to play well if they want to win.

But that’s what the nation’s best programs are supposed to do, when the games are the biggest you need to be at your best. That has been an issue for Notre Dame in recent seasons, but the 2020 season presents an opportunity for Brian Kelly’s program to put together another 10-win season.

If that doesn’t happen it could be bad news for the Irish.

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