The pressure is on Notre Dame as the years tick on. THey are on the verge of losing a lot of money if they do not merge soon, obviosly one conferece stands out than the all of the rest, The Big Ten. Here is some stories I have collected for people
http://www.fanblogs.com/ncaa/003975.phpNotre Dame
expansion mania strikes again
USA Today is running a story about ND making inquiries to the ACC and Big10 about joining -- story repeated here in the Indianapolis Star. "The school's overtures have taken place in the past few weeks -- after recent conference realignments -- and are considered a serious move toward joining a league for football, according to two officials within the ACC with knowledge of the moves. One official said the school also contacted the Big Ten."
What is precipitating this is the expiration of the BCS contract in '05 and the expiration of ND's TV deal at the same time. I suspect that, if ND can sign a great independent TV deal, then they will stay independent. But given recent results on the field, will they be able to do that? Of course the TV deals are a lot less about results on the field, and a lot more about the ability to sell ads based on a broad and rabid viewership.
Posted by John Ludwig
http://www.nd.edu/~ndmag/w0304/sports.html
Another great article.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20.../07/26/mailbag/
http://www.nd.edu/~observer/09171999/News/0.html