Big Ten not shopping for new teams means Notre Dame independence stays strong

While it was always incredibly unlikely that Notre Dame football would suddenly announce it was joining a conference in the near future, it’s always nice to hear that confirmation from the people in power. And when Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti confirmed on Tuesday morning that his conference wasn’t looking to grow, it seemingly slammed expansion talk to a halt.

It seems that every year, that talk ramps up to a ridiculous degree during conference media days. In part, because it’s the only time of year when so many football administrations are all in a room together.

This year the focus for the most part was on Florida State and Clemson jumping ship from the ACC. However, there was some talk about Notre Dame football and the Irish eventually joining the Big Ten.

Notre Dame football won’t be heading to the Big Ten

It’s not exactly a huge shock that the Big Ten isn’t looking to add anyone. Both the B1G and SEC are at 18 teams. That seems about as many teams as any conference can really manage. 

"We're focused on the 18 right now,” Pettiti said when asked about it. “We're comfortable where we are.”

There is a caveat there. Petitti said almost the exact same thing during his opening address of Big Ten Media Days in 2023. Back then, they were happy with 16 teams. By the end of the week, Oregon and Washington were joining the conference as well.

Of course, things were different last year as the Pac-12 still existed at the start of the Big Ten Media Days. Then Colorado decided to go back to the Big 12 and take several of its conference mates with them. 

That sort of seismic shift simply isn’t happening this time around. It feels like the Big Ten commish’s words can be taken at face value this time. Notre Dame football stays independent. At least for one more year.