Guess this comes close to answering the "would they?" questions about the Irish and conference affiliation....
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Irish plan barnstorming schedule

Associated Press
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Notre Dame's decision to schedule a game each
season at neutral sites starting in 2009 is an attempt to return the
school to its independent roots.

Athletic director Kevin White said Tuesday the goal is to travel to
different parts of the country and ensure that the only school with
a national television contract remains a nationwide school. He said
it would help recruiting and give more Fighting Irish fans a chance
to see the team.

Division I football will go to a 12-game schedule for all schools
beginning this season.

"I think over time we've really begun to behave like a wannabe
conference member," White said. "I think it was real important for
us to go back to our roots and behave more like an independent -- go
back to the coach Rockne barnstorming era if you will."
The game is a sign that Notre Dame is moving further away from
possibly affiliating with a conference, White said.
He said the games aren't truly neutral-site games, but home contests
played away from South Bend. They will not be against what White
described as "heavyweights."

"We have enough heavyweights on the schedule," he said. "We need to
have a schedule that's conducive to success."

He said the university is negotiating to play in Jacksonville and
Orlando, Fla., New Orleans and Dallas. The school is looking at
existing bowl-game organizations to help stage the contests.
"It's really not a bad idea for Notre Dame to have relationships
with lots of different entities," White said.

Some Notre Dame fans contend the team's upcoming schedules are not
as tough as previous ones. White said he is not trying to put
together the nation's most difficult schedule.

"We need to schedule in a way it puts us in a position to win
national championships," he said. "We could have a great football
team and schedule ourselves out of a championship. You can schedule
yourself in, you can schedule yourself out. The last time I checked,
the most important thing here is to try to win national
championships."

Copyright 2006 IndyStar.com. All rights reserved

Sounds like Notre Dame is thinking about teams like UCF, TCU, SMU, Tulane

You already posted this, Capital Pirate, in the "Notre Dame" thread. Why did you start this new thread with the same material?

This duplicate post is a complete waste of space on this board and, as a former Killer Frogs moderator, you should know better.

Notre Dame has already said they would play Big East schools in a rotation fashion. UC will be playing them in a few years and they already have deals set with Pitt and Syracuse and probably West Virginia. That is already set so this post is a waste of time.