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The Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is well known for its illustrious past, storied traditions and devoted fan base.
Being an independent school is one feature that distinguishes Notre Dame from most other dominant programs in college football. It has also gotten people asking why the prestigious university is not affiliated with any conference.
The Fighting Irish had made attempts early in their history to join an athletic conference. One such effort to join the Big Ten in 1926 was turned down, allegedly for anti-Catholic reasons. With time, the program embraced its independence for diverse reasons.
To start with, the program’s sovereignty has given it the freedom to build a nationally relevant brand. While other schools are restricted by their conferences to a regional experience and fanbase, Notre Dame spreads its tentacles across the country.
In the same vein, the Fighting Irish have scheduling flexibility and freedom that their counterparts in the conferences can only imagine.
Except for five mandatory fixtures against ACC teams every season, the Fighting Irish schedules and plays opponents from any conference it so wishes. This has allowed it to maintain long-standing rivalries when most schools are sacrificing their storied feuds for conference allegiance.
Since 1990, when the Fighting Irish left the College Football Association, a consortium that handled TV rights for colleges, Notre Dame has conducted its own media deals. For over 30 years, NBC has broadcast all its home games. The revenue from the agreement is similar to what they may receive at any FBS conference.
The program's current Athletic director Jack Swarbrick has outlined access to College Football Playoffs and a competitive TV contract as two reasons the program has maintained its independent status.
The legacy and position of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in college football
In the context of the ongoing conference realignment, it is easy to see what a program like Notre Dame represents. Independence, flexibility and freedom of choice are some legacies the Fighting Irish have established in college football. This is in addition to the legacy of winning that the school has maintained for several decades.
The Fighting Irish have won 11 claimed national championships. Eight of these are from the major wire-service polls. Seven players from the program have also won the prestigious Heisman Trophy, while it has produced 104 Consensus All-Americans.
Notre Dame’s independence has been instrumental to its success in college football. Long-standing rivalries, choice opponents and national appeals have all become integral to the Fighting Irish brand.
Amidst the instability and uncertainty of conference realignment, it is important to remember. Not every college football program is blown away by the winds of conference affiliations and betrayals.
