Had a Board of Trustees that were introducing alot of political perspectives into Chapel Hill, and also they were auguing of their independence with the UNC System. (in which Chapel Hill historically treated as being disconnected). Also, UNC athletics (like it or not) had a culture of operation, and a legacy AD Bubba Cunningham, and a legacy football coach and a Tarheel, then basketball had a UNC guy, hubert, who bled Carolina Blue.). This board cleared this all out. This happened at Maryland before they left the ACC, the president (who Graduated from Maryland) retired, While their AD Kay Yow, was from North Carolina (I believe State), the Basketball coach gary Williams and Ralph graduated from maryland and was tight to the President. The new Board, hired an outsider from Maryland (the provost from Illinois) who knew nothing about the ACC and was deep into the Big 10, and saw program losing money, He cleaned house, and no Maryland folks remained. (THEY HAVENT BEEN BACK SINCE). Lets see how Chapel Hill proceeds... They do have money, they want to build a new Arena, they want to fund football, and they divided and not alligned. This is when the other peer schools take advantage of this.

legacy, who be a bit similar to the Maryland hire, this might be a bit too much to expect. But VT hasn't gotten AAU status and is certainly on the outside for a B10 spot. Contrast that to the Maryland hire that you mentioned. VT has risen in the academic rankings, but how much of that would have happened without Sands? Quite a bit, I suspect. He seems to have whiffed on some important things. The second similarity is that VT seems to have punched below its weight in several areas for a long time and bringing in new people might help.

Debbie damn near bankrupted Maryland athletics and then wound up at NC State and got them in a mess. Debbie played basketball for Elon and coached for Kentucky, Oral Robert’s and Florida. Kay Yow was the women’s basketball coach for NC State who died due to cancer in 2009. She played for East Carolina and coached at NC State from 1975 to 2009.

and you could have picked that post apart if you wanted to with other errors. Merc just being Merc as usual.

One of the Florida schools is probably a lock for the B10. At this point I think Miami is ahead. I have been saying the ACC will not lose more than 4 in 2030. The other two spots are open for the ambitious ACC or B12 schools. And that's why these schools invest $$$. VT's best bet is to join the SEC along with UNC and VT should build rapport with UNC. You can look up my history. I have been saying all this.

UNC, ND and now maybe Miami have a seat. Can FSU and Clemson get in SEC? UF and USCe might have thing to say. VT and UVa are tied together. What about State and UNC? Carolina government will save the Wolfpack. Here is a better scenario.... In time some in ACC and some in Big 12 break away. When MAG 7 formed. Those 7 schools knew something. Or was seeing if they could explore something 2024. Heck it could simply be a smaller ACC (new name of course). This last thought the SEC would promote. Just to keep BIG out the South.

So, another school can have that spot.

up for renewal. I'm sure there is a scenario where Notre Dame has no interest in renewing the GOR under any circumstance. The only question is what are the circumstances that would lead Notre Dame to making that decision. In the end it doesn't matter if the ACC or Notre Dame is the one who decides to end the relationship because the result would still be the same.

I just stated they would have one. Always have. I am from the traditional fold. I hope ND is always what they ar. Even though Quasi these days. I want Nebraska and OU. Those teams I listed was mostly just teams I know will survive.

a conference. In addition, if the ACC loses 3 or more schools, I'm not convinced ND would stick around until 2036. I think ND's future lands in scheduling agreements like they have with Clemson. and VERY likely they end up in the Big East for all other sports. Lose the football brands in the ACC, there is no backfill option that will satisfy anyone.

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

with you though, that if the ACC keeps their top brands, there is no reason ND would change the deal they currently have. Only if the ACC loses their top brands will it matter. ND needed a home for basketball and Olympics, and the ACC made perfect sense when the old Big East fell apart, and ended up being the AAC. When the basketball schools left and formed a basically private Catholic basketball first conference, things changed. ND is probably only one of a handful of schools that would have zero problem filling our a FBS schedule. The other 3 or 4 are already in the BIG or SEC.

...for the reasons cited in my original post. I don't feel UNC is a premier opponent for ND either. I only mentioned them along with Clemson and FSU because they are mentioned as some of the most likely defectors. If ND wanted to continue to play any of the defectors, they could, while still keeping a five-game ACC slate. I have no doubt that ND could easily find 12 opponents willing to play them. The challenge is for their opponents in trying to shoehorn a game vs ND into October and November when they have conference obligations those months.

Hattiesburg, MS, Statesboro, GA, DeKalb, IL, or Jonesboro, AR in football because of who the ACC decided to add to help backfill the void left by the 4-6 schools who left the ACC? Given that there aren't very many desirable targets that would be available to the ACC, it is possible the ACC could decide to backfill any slots with basketball-first schools that happen to play football. If so, then the ACC could require Notre Dame to travel to more Duke-like football stadiums than Clemson or FSU-like football stadiums during the next media contract.

(i.e. Duke and UNC), then it could be interesting to see the value of the ACC's next media contract is on July 1, 2036. It is possible it may not be that much more than the Big East's current media contract which expires in 2030-31. Assuming the value of ACC football can be isolated, so Notre Dame has an apples-to-apples comparison. Even if Notre Dame is not ready to join the Big East when the Big East is ready to sign its next contract, I am not convinced Notre Dame will be a non-football member in the ACC on July 1, 2036. If that comes to fruition, then the Big East, Big XII, or a brand new conference seems to be the most likely candidates for Notre Dame's new home due to Notre Dame's position on football. While the P2 conferences are more likely to want full membership.

Yes. Do you know what the exit fee is for ND? I don't, but I'm assuming it's much different than everyone else's because there is no GOR with ND football. Currently they do make more money in the ACC if you think it's for basketball and Olympics. What we don't know, is what the dollar figure was for the football games. Surely you don't think they gave that football scheduling agreement for the privilege of putting their basketball program in the ACC, do you? before 2hhoop3 jumps me, I do not have a copy of the contract ND has with the ACC. As a matter of fact it hasn't even been discussed here to my recollection. What I am pretty sure of, is that it isn't the same as all of the full time members. Keep in mind, all of this is predicated on the ACC losing it's top brands. I see no way that ND keeps it's football scheduling arrangement with the ACC if that happens, and the Big East is a good landing spot for Irish Basketball.

I believe their exit fee would be around 1/2 of what full members pay, as that's consistent with them getting paid approximately 1/2 of a full share in conference distributions as their football contract is separate. Again (and I've explained this to you before, but apparently it didn't register), the Big East schools get around $7.5M from their TV deal annually, so call total conference distribution around $9-10M. That's about half of what ND gets from the ACC. So unless they've forgotten how to count, they're not paying the ACC an exit fee (and forgoing their share of other schools' exit fees) to take a 50% revenue haircut in the Big East. Regardless of what happens to the ACC's top brands, Notre Dame is going to need to fill their schedule in October and November. If history is any indication, I think they'd still want to play schools like Stanford, BC, Georgia Tech, and Pitt, as they played all of those schools with some regularity even before joining the ACC as a partial member, and they're all located in metro areas with either sizeable numbers of ND alums and/or areas where ND recruits hard. They've always wanted to play a national schedule with a focus towards the East Coast, which the ACC affiliation allows them to do. I don't think they've ever scheduled any Big 12 program with any regularity; although a new "Holy War" with BYU might make sense for both sides. So after any ACC departures, I could see them filling ten P4 games each year with five ACC games, BYU, maybe one other Big 12 school (TCU, ASU, Colorado), 1-2 Big Ten (hopefully USC series is revived) games and 1-2 SEC games. Or maybe they break Terry D's heart and finally join the Big Ten!

Institutional failure. Was always a must see game for me.

Once Lincoln Riley and Jennifer Cohen took over at USC, the series was on shaky ground. I guess USC couldn't stand losing 7 of the last 8 and 10 of the last 12 games against ND. On the bright side, the Jeweled Shillelagh trophy will stay with ND indefinitely.

an annual neutral site game that would have given USC an ND money separately, and not to the conference? Kinda like the recent Duke basketball set up?

AI says their exit fee is about 1/3 of a regular ACC member - estimated to be roughly $55m, but even they say it's an estimate. True, 3 years ago they got about $17M in ACC distributions, probably closer to $20M today, but again, that is my estimate. Don't really want to look that up, but lets say for the sake of argument, you are correct. ND will NEVER have a similar agreement with the B12 as they now have with the ACC, and there is no one in the B12 that has a history playing ND. They just are not a fit, in the old B12, or the new B12. My opinion is not based on the B12, as I think they are virtually irrelevent to ND's future. that being said, BYU is intriguing, and do not forget that they do have a lot of alumni in Arizona. When the ND's new football contract comes up, that 12 year agreement with Clemson will help, and it is my opinion, that a 10 year scheduling agreement with just about any school in FBS is possible. Baltimore mentioned below, that no matter who owns the rights to ND's opponents, they will welcome any scheduling agreement. I agree with that assessment. now, if you just step back from the ACC bubble for a second, how difficult would scheduling agreements like with Clemson would be difficult to find for ND? Then ask yourself, if ND had long term agreements (like through the lenght of their next media contract), how much would NBC pay for that? There is not one single school in the current ACC, current B12, and most of the BIG and SEC that would not agree to a 10 or 12 year scheduling agreement with ND. What if as just an example, ND was not in the ACC, and they had agreements with: Clemson Miami VT (screw FSU)/GT/Arizona/St. BC/Pitt Stanford Purdue Michigan State BYU LSU That is 81/2 that would sign tomorrow. (not sure about LSU, just want to see it every year) That leaves 3-4 every year they could rotate just like every other University. What would NBC pay for that?

in full Big 12 shill force today. I have now learned not to ask you for facts or actual research/knowledge so you are safe from being jumped.

appears that some on this board don't mind B12 youtubers if they have nice things to say about VT. All that aside, do you have an opinion on the actual ND ACC contract? My 2 seconds of research didn't turn up any details, like exit fees.

ND is likely never to join a conference unless they are backed into the proverbial corner with a gun to their head and that would not involve exit fees. Whatever ND's original exit fee might have been, it has now likely been adjusted with the Clemson/FSU settlement. Everyone will find out about the next round of realignment when the powers that be tell us and listening to clueless media blowhards pretending they have the inside scoop is great entertainment and, if saved, future fodder to mock them with.

more questions than answers.