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Split Thread: Does ND Need To Join a Conference

LLoyd I have a friend that won a conference championship in DIV III @ dEFIANCE TWO OR THREE YEARS AGO. I saw their championship ring and was amazed at how nice it was. I was thinking if Defiance gives rings that nice imagine what the big boys get. When recruiting you would think not being in a conference is a major disadvantage. ND plays @ Tenn and USC they need 1 of those games to make a bowl IMO IT ISN'T GONNA HAPPEN.
 
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I played in Div IV and V in HS.. played Div IV for Archbold and Div V for Montpelier. While we're not blessed with the talent a lot of places are anymore, we still care a hell of a lot about our football. lol.

And eventually, I think not making a bowl game will affect their thinking at ND. That's a tall task for ND to get by both Tenn & USC.
 
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Notre Dame is the only independent that can go to a NC game without affiliating with a conference. But honestly, they do need to join a conference or they will continue to have nothing to offer athletes. I don't foresee them joining the Big East, that conference has hit rock bottom and I would hope a school with their prestige would have more pride than that. Inevitably it will be the Big 10. Then we will have a conference championship game--woohoo!
 
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In my opinion, they should have joined the Big Ten in the 90s, its obvious they need to make a move because that is the way college football is going now, they are moving to super conferences and they need to do it.

The positives far out way the negatives for ND.
 
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You characters saying ND's woes are caused by not being in a conference crack me up. Being independent hasn't hurt them throughout their history and or kept them from winning more NCs than us...what has hurt them the most is the 85-scholarship limit and their strength of schedule. You really think Notre Dame could seriously compete in the Big Ten? As an independent, they can schedule whomever they want without having to play eight conference games. This could help them better line up a run for a NC. In 1988, their last NC year, they played the following teams (final 1988 record in parenthesis):

Michigan (9-2-1)
Michigan State (6-5-1)
Purdue (4-7)
Stanford (3-6-2)
Pittsburgh (6-5)
Miami, Fl (11-1)
Air Force (5-7)
Navy (3-8)
Rice (0-11)
Penn State (5-6)
Southern Cal (10-2)
West Virginia (11-1) (Fiesta Bowl)

As you can see, they played three solid teams (Michigan, Miami, and USC) which validated their SOS, yet played only two other teams that barely had winning records (MSU and Pitt) and six teams with losing records. So, they played eight mediocre or bad teams out of 11. That was still good enough to get them into the Fiesta Bowl against then-11-0 West Virginia. Being independent also allowed them to not be tied down to bowl affiliations. Granted, with the BCS conferences aren't quite as tied down as before, but they still are limited as to where their teams can go. If Notre Dame would ever join the Big Ten, they'd become another Penn State.
 
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You characters saying ND's woes are caused by not being in a conference crack me up. Being independent hasn't hurt them throughout their history and or kept them from winning more NCs than us...what has hurt them the most is the 85-scholarship limit and their strength of schedule. You really think Notre Dame could seriously compete in the Big Ten? As an independent, they can schedule whomever they want without having to play eight conference games. This could help them better line up a run for a NC.

I never said that their woes were caused by no conference affiliation. I just said that eventually I think they'll need to join a conference.
 
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LloydSev said:
I never said that their woes were caused by no conference affiliation. I just said that eventually I think they'll need to join a conference.

By saying they need to join a conference, you imply that if they don't then it will be detrimental.
 
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