One of the reasons ND moved from the BE to the ACC to begin with was to benefit its Olympic Sports. I agree that the current BE might arguably be preferential for men's basketball as opposed to a future watered-down ACC; however, the ACC sponsors more sports than the BE (28 to 22 I think), not to mention that the ACC is a stronger league overall (even with potential defections) in most of the sports that both conferences offer. Negotiating a 12-game independent football schedule every year is a HUGE headache, even for a Notre Dame. Finding 12 opponents willing to play them is not an issue, but finding opponents ABLE to play them in October and November during the middle of a conference schedule is. The current 5 game ACC rotation, even if it's a bit weaker with defections, still allows ND plenty of flexibility to where it can beef up the rest of the schedule if it chooses to do so. ND usually only draws 1 or 2 of the premier ACC football programs annually as it is now. It could still potentially opt to play a Clemson, FSU, UNC or other P4 programs while still playing a 5-game ACC slate of say, Cal, SMU, GT, BC and Pitt. ** Edited by cburgroop at 7/28/2026, 10:59:30 AM