Why ACC Football must force Notre Dame to join as full time member

The ACC football world is essentially being held hostage by the decision from Notre Dame to join the conference as a full time member in all other sports.

On Labor Day night, the world of ACC football will take center stage when two teams from the conference – the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Louisville Cardinals – will battle it out on a nationally televised stage that will showcase two of the conference’s teams one season after the ACC brought home another national title.

Oh wait, that’s right…it ISN’T going to be an ACC game yet again as Notre Dame will begin their sixth season of being a member of the conference in all sports – except for hockey and football, as the Fighting Irish continue to be an independent but give the conference the benefit of playing five league members each season for the sixth straight season.

So, for the sixth straight time, the ACC football world and all those in it like the Florida State Seminoles get the luxury of having the men from South Bend take a bowl spot from the conference and get some of the money from it – without the golden domers actually playing a full league schedule like the 14 members that currently do so.

Florida State Seminoles Football

Plain and simple, the ACC is being used by Notre Dame and needs to stop it – immediately.

It’s been written before that Notre Dame is essentially using the ACC football world by still refusing to join the group with the conference not even getting a seat at the table with anything Notre Dame could have presented as a compromise for not joining as a full time member of the conference.

Did the ACC, particularly the ACC football world, get a piece of the pie with Notre Dame’s contract with NBC Sports to allow the conference to get another television partner to showcase games? No.

Over the past five regular seasons that the Fighting Irish have played an average of five ACC teams a season, has Notre Dame dominated? Well, an overall record of 18-7 is impressive until you realize that it’s because they won all five games last season (before getting smoked by ACC member Clemson in the College Football Playoff).

So, what should take place? Well, the solution is simple: you show a team like Louisville the door – I’m sure the Big 12 wouldn’t mind them if they ever think about expansion – and you tell the Fighting Irish that this is an all or nothing deal. Either that or you take out thinks like letting them get those bowl tie-ins and a piece of the money that comes with it.

The sooner the ACC football bosses realize they are being used by a team that has played for one national title in over three decades, the better off it will be for everyone.