Are Jim Phillips and the ACC Trying to force Notre Dame football to join?

Could Jim Phillips and the ACC be trying to force the Notre Dame football team to join?

For Notre Dame football fans, by now, you’re probably sick of the discourse surrounding expansion of the College Football Playoff. Everyone agrees that the CFP product has been poor, at best, and the ratings are showing that. In 2021-22 the ratings were among the worst ever. Everyone also agrees that expansion is inevitable.

However, hurt feelings among the Power Five conference commissioners has slowed this down, arguing over minute details. Now, Jim Phillips and the ACC have opened up as being against expanding the Playoff right now.

Jim Phillips has insisted that he and the ACC’s coaches and athletic directors are united on this front. They feel strongly that the model being debated isn’t the issue, but the timing itself. They feel that there is too much change happening at once.

In total, the ACC has given three reasons that they don’t want expansion:

1. Unanswered Questions about the health and safety of players in an expanded CFP
2. Overall disruption in college athletics, as well as recent changes to the sport
3. There should be a 365-day holistic review

In other words, the ACC found reasons to not be in favor of expanding the Playoff right now. Only a couple of teams a season are going to be playing extra games, even in the 12-team model. So, the idea that player safety is a major issue, simply doesn’t hold weight. Especially when you consider that college teams are often criticized for already not caring about player safety.

As for the other two points, they’re simply delay tactics. Phillips would argue that it’s to better understand the impact of NIL and the transfer portal. However, you have to then wonder why there is only one conference coming up with excuses to delay expansion.

There are a couple of reasons this might be. The first is that the ACC is trying to appease its top team, Clemson. Dabo Swinney, in particular, has loudly argued and bemoaned changes in college football. The current model has suited his team well, so why would he want to see it changed? When asked if Clemson was against playing more games in a season, Phillips replied, “They Don’t.” 

Is the Notre Dame football team being forced to join the ACC?

The other reason, is one that Phillips tried to deny, though no one believed his denial. It could very well be a power play to make Notre Dame football join the ACC.

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick was integral in designing the proposed 12-team model. If expanded to that size, then the Irish would no longer need to go unbeaten every year to make the CFP as an Independent. It would mean that Notre Dame should be a participant in most seasons. However, if the 4-team model stays in place it would incentivize Notre Dame to join a conference in football, where making the Playoff is easier.

It’s no secret that the ACC is looking for ways to get Notre Dame to join as a football member, something they desperately need as their on-field product continues to struggle. This seems like a thinly veiled push by the conference.

This is the last leverage that the ACC has on the matter of expansion, and quite possibly getting Notre Dame to join. Jim Phillips is using it, refusing to go quietly with college football towards its inevitable future.

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Make no mistake, other conference commissioners want to debate the exact model and how things are done, but he’s the one stopping the debate from occurring. That’s not without reason. You just have to read between the lines to see those reasons.