Last couple days the reports from around South Bend have been about how Notre Dame is actually bringing in more than reporters are saying and the financial difference between Big 10 and independence is minimal.

Latest from St Louis Post-Dispatch says expansion study won't be done until November and Delany added a statement about growing population in the south warrants looking at expansion.

1. If you are interested in tapping population shifting to the south, you aren't looking to Rutgers, Nebraska or Missouri to be the tap.

2. The Notre Dame talk makes me think Notre Dame is going to say no.

3. If you can't hit a home run with Notre Dame and now want to look at the south, you are busy seeing if there is any possible way to get Texas and figuring out if what Texas would want would be worth it. If they just want TAMU, that's easy. Great academic institution with massive following. It UT didn't exist, the focus would be on TAMU anyway.

4. If you can't get Texas, you aren't getting SEC because other than Vandy and Florida, none fit your academic profile and you aren't offering enough dollars to truly make it worthwhile for most.

5. The only southern schools not in the SEC or Big XII that fit your academic profile are almost southern Maryland, Virginia, Duke, North Carolina, and Georgia Tech.

Yeah, I don't think Vandy leaves that $EC welfare check. Heck, MT averages more of our own fans than Vandy at home football games.

Kentucky fans even outnumber Vandy fans when they play at Duddley Field.

Notre Dame's football independence possibly in jeopardy with Big Ten considering expansion

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Spurned nearly a century ago by teams in what is now the Big Ten, Notre Dame athletic director and coach Jesse Harper didn't stand pat. He put together a schedule that included games at Army, Penn State and Texas.

When Notre Dame beat Army 35-13 in 1913, using the then-unorthodox forward pass, the Fighting Irish suddenly had the attention of the national media and Catholic immigrants alike.

Harper's decision to go it alone still resonates today as the Big Ten considers expansion, with the school publicly declaring its love for the independence it considers so key to its football program and academic reputation.

"It's core to who we are," says Jack Swarbrick, the current athletic director. "It's so uniquely interwoven with the identity of the school. It played a role in bringing Notre Dame to the national conscience."

Yet Notre Dame's independence in football may be in jeopardy: With the Big Ten considering adding at least one team to the 11 it has, theories abound whether the most storied name in the sport and possibly its biggest brand will join the fold.

article continued...

why would the Irish even consider joining a Conference for football? they have an unbeatable deal with NBC. what I dont understand is why. Why do they STILL get preferential treatment like they do? they havent been in a title hunt for some time now, seems they are benefiting from past accomplishments a bit too much.

(05-18-2010 04:57 PM)Burn the Horse Wrote:  why would the Irish even consider joining a Conference for football? they have an unbeatable deal with NBC. what I dont understand is why. Why do they STILL get preferential treatment like they do? they havent been in a title hunt for some time now, seems they are benefiting from past accomplishments a bit too much.

The title hunt is not important in the slightest. What matters is that they are the most widely followed team in college football and that means eyes on the game broadcasts. People that hate them watch more when they lose and people that love them watch more when they win.

(05-18-2010 07:22 PM)AtlantaJag Wrote:  The title hunt is not important in the slightest. What matters is that they are the most widely followed team in college football and that means eyes on the game broadcasts. People that hate them watch more when they lose and people that love them watch more when they win.

I didn't watch a single ND game this past season (or earlier ones), and heard no chatter about any of their games either.

I'm not in a Catholic region though, and I know there are big pockets around the US.

(05-18-2010 09:14 PM)Raider_ATO Wrote:  

(05-18-2010 07:22 PM)AtlantaJag Wrote:  The title hunt is not important in the slightest. What matters is that they are the most widely followed team in college football and that means eyes on the game broadcasts. People that hate them watch more when they lose and people that love them watch more when they win.

I didn't watch a single ND game this past season (or earlier ones), and heard no chatter about any of their games either.

I'm not in a Catholic region though, and I know there are big pockets around the US.

With the Charlie Weiss death march last season I heard about ND plenty.

(05-18-2010 07:22 PM)AtlantaJag Wrote:  The title hunt is not important in the slightest. What matters is that they are the most widely followed team in college football and that means eyes on the game broadcasts. People that hate them watch more when they lose and people that love them watch more when they win.

im going to go ahead and disagree with you on that. im sure a title is VERY important to the Notre Dame athletic department, university, and fanbase. NBC may not care, but if you think those close to the program dont want to win a NC you're crazy.

(05-19-2010 08:11 AM)Burn the Horse Wrote:  

(05-18-2010 07:22 PM)AtlantaJag Wrote:  The title hunt is not important in the slightest. What matters is that they are the most widely followed team in college football and that means eyes on the game broadcasts. People that hate them watch more when they lose and people that love them watch more when they win.

im going to go ahead and disagree with you on that. im sure a title is VERY important to the Notre Dame athletic department, university, and fanbase. NBC may not care, but if you think those close to the program dont want to win a NC you're crazy.

I was responding to this:

"What I dont understand is why. Why do they STILL get preferential treatment like they do? they havent been in a title hunt for some time now, seems they are benefiting from past accomplishments a bit too much."

I'm not sure how you managed to think I was saying the no one associated with ND cares about a championship.

I agree that Notre Dame gets way too much credit for the glory days, but they aren't the only ones. Michigan is a perfect example. They're terrible, but they have this prestige about them from generations long has them as one of the fixtures of off-season coverage. I could name plenty of other schools that continue to benefit from seasons their program had long before I was born.

(05-19-2010 12:21 PM)AtlantaJag Wrote:  

(05-19-2010 08:11 AM)Burn the Horse Wrote:  

(05-18-2010 07:22 PM)AtlantaJag Wrote:  The title hunt is not important in the slightest. What matters is that they are the most widely followed team in college football and that means eyes on the game broadcasts. People that hate them watch more when they lose and people that love them watch more when they win.

im going to go ahead and disagree with you on that. im sure a title is VERY important to the Notre Dame athletic department, university, and fanbase. NBC may not care, but if you think those close to the program dont want to win a NC you're crazy.

I was responding to this:

"What I dont understand is why. Why do they STILL get preferential treatment like they do? they havent been in a title hunt for some time now, seems they are benefiting from past accomplishments a bit too much."

I'm not sure how you managed to think I was saying the no one associated with ND cares about a championship.

I believe this is the comment he was referring to and it seems to indicate that you feel it's irrelevant, not the whole of ND...correct?

(05-19-2010 02:45 PM)trojanbrutha Wrote:  

(05-19-2010 12:21 PM)AtlantaJag Wrote:  

(05-19-2010 08:11 AM)Burn the Horse Wrote:  

(05-18-2010 07:22 PM)AtlantaJag Wrote:  The title hunt is not important in the slightest. What matters is that they are the most widely followed team in college football and that means eyes on the game broadcasts. People that hate them watch more when they lose and people that love them watch more when they win.

im going to go ahead and disagree with you on that. im sure a title is VERY important to the Notre Dame athletic department, university, and fanbase. NBC may not care, but if you think those close to the program dont want to win a NC you're crazy.

I was responding to this:

"What I dont understand is why. Why do they STILL get preferential treatment like they do? they havent been in a title hunt for some time now, seems they are benefiting from past accomplishments a bit too much."

I'm not sure how you managed to think I was saying the no one associated with ND cares about a championship.

I believe this is the comment he was referring to and it seems to indicate that you feel it's irrelevant, not the whole of ND...correct?

It means that being in a title hunt or not in recent years has no bearing on their TV ratings and therefore the amount of favorable treatment they get. Is this really news to anyone?