Notre Dame football should be on red alert about Big Ten-SEC summit
There are few things more important to the Notre Dame football team than remaining as independent as possible. However, while the program has managed to continue to strike deals that allow them to operate in a business-as-usual, things continue to change in that regard.
Would running the risk of basically being shut out of the College Football Playoffs every year be the thing that finally spurs them to join a conference? It looks like the Big Ten and SEC are about to test that theory. The two conferences are expected to meet soon that meeting doesn’t seem like it’s going be a good thing for the irish.
The Notre Dame football team has rebuffed the Big Ten several times as the conference looked to add them. If the meeting leads to the change the two conferences want, it might be time to really take a listen.
ESPN’s Heather Dinich reported on one of the big points of the meeting between the two conferences, set for next week.
Notre Dame football should be on high alert
“Sources in both leagues told ESPN on Monday they would prefer to have potentially four automatic bids each to the playoff when the next contract begins in 2026,” Dinich wrote. “CFP leaders haven’t determined yet what the playoff will look like beyond this season and next. Some said they need to know that before making any decisions about future scheduling partnerships.”
Four auto bids from the SEC and Big Ten would mean that only four other seeds would be open. It would seem the Big 12 and ACC will demand they get at least one each. So that would leave just two bids for Notre Dame and G5.
It could mean that the playoffs will also expand to 16, a number that’s been talked about before. However that doesn’t mean the Irish would be any better off as it would seem likely the ACC and Big 12 would both want at least two autobids in that situation.
The bottom line is that it doesn’t appear the playoffs are going to be in any sort of format that would be good for Notre Dame football, if it stays independent.