For more than a decade, Notre Dame’s scheduling agreement with the ACC has been framed as a reasonable compromise: preserve independence, maintain national flexibility, and gain a predictable rotation of conference opponents. In 2014, that made sense. Clemson and Florida State were national powers, Miami looked like it might re-emerge, and the ACC had enough competitive depth to justify an annual commitment.
That world is gone.
The ACC has weakened while the SEC and Big Ten have evolved into super-conferences. Yet Notre Dame remains locked into an arrangement that guarantees five ACC opponents every year – and in certain seasons, like 2025, even adds a sixth. Every November, the same story returns: the Irish play well, accumulate wins, sit near the top 10… and still get dinged because the schedule simply isn’t strong enough.
Most outsiders blame Notre Dame for “scheduling weak” while ignoring that the real reason Notre Dame’s schedule can be lacking at times. Not because Notre Dame avoids tough games – who else started their season with back-to-back games against playoff teams?. Not because of independence. But because the ACC isn’t pulling its weight.
The deal Notre Dame signed isn’t the deal they have now
Notre Dame agreed to the ACC structure under the belief that the conference would maintain its relevance in the national landscape by continuing to produce multiple ranked opponents, reliable depth, and stable competitiveness.
Instead, the ACC is now the weakest of the Power Five conferences. This past week a team with a 7-5 record in regular season not only made it to the conference championship game, but won it and didn’t even make the playoffs because mighty James Madison was ranked higher. That would have been unthinkable in 2014, but it’s not overly surprising now, given how bad the ACC has become.
Clemson slid backward as Dabo Swinney refused to embrace the transfer portal and NIL. Florida State fell into a multi-year hole and has been see-sawing under Mike Norvell. Georgia Tech and Louisville have been solid, but rarely ranked highly. Virginia Tech, once one of the conference’s football powers, has been largely irrelevant for the past decade. SMU joined the conference and made the playoffs last year, but got absolutely smoked by Big Game James Franklin and Penn State before falling off this year. Pitt, Virginia, Boston College, NC State, Syracuse, Stanford – it’s more common for them to have down years than to be a formidable opponent.
And while Miami finally surged in 2025 — beating Notre Dame and reaching the Playoff — one ascending program doesn’t make a strong conference.
The bottom line: the ACC doesn’t have many teams that routinely finish ranked and rarely add much to Notre Dame’s schedule. In a 12-team Playoff era where strength of schedule is measured relentlessly, that’s a structural problem.
2025: Six ACC Games — And Almost Nothing for the Irish to Show for It
Notre Dame played six ACC foes instead of five this year, with the Miami opener added to the other five. Notre Dame went 5-1 in those games and got almost no credit for any of them, except a bit for Pitt, but the Panthers ended the season unranked.
| 2025 ACC Opponent | 2025 Record | Résumé Value |
|---|---|---|
| Miami | 10–2 (Playoff) | High-value opponent |
| NC State | 7–5 | Unranked, no CFP impact. |
| Boston College | 2–10 | Drags down SOS. |
| Pitt | 8–4 | Solid but unranked. |
| Syracuse | 3–9 | No value. |
| Stanford | 4–8 | Still rebuilding. |
That’s six ACC games. One strong opponent. Five resume dead spots. That’s half of Notre Dame’s schedule that it had no control over, and only one game against a real quality opponent. The other problem with this set of deadbeat opponents was that the schedule was backloaded with the depths of the ACC schedule. So while the Irish were running through November with ease, none of the wins – even a 70-7 win – earned the Irish much credit in the eyes of the committee. Reminder: the ACC controls Notre Dame’s yearly opponents, not Notre Dame.
While this is essentially an ACC problem for having a conference that is almost entirely void of elite programs anymore, it’s become a Notre Dame problem because the Irish are contractually tied to this slate.
Ironically, if you look at Miami’s schedule, the only win they got much credit for is their win over Notre Dame because as a full ACC member, their schedule was littered even more with their conference’s bottom feeders.
2026: Miami once again holds all of the ACC slate’s water
The 2026 schedule features the rescheduled Miami game (initially planned for 2024), which could be a real asset if the Irish can get revenge for this year’s last-minute loss. The Hurricanes finally look like a top-tier program again under Mario Cristobal.
Everything else? More of the same:
- Boston College: 2–10 last season, stuck in neutral
- North Carolina: 4-8, maybe they look better in year two under Bill Belichick but that’s a big if
- SMU: competitive but not nationally relevant this year
- Syracuse: 3–9, no momentum, although they would have been better had Steve Angeli not been hurt
- Stanford: 4–8, years away from competing
One high-quality opponent surrounded by five games that will not earn a lot of respect from the committee. This is the heart of the problem: the ACC can occasionally give Notre Dame a strong matchup, but never enough of them to help build a Playoff resume comparable to the SEC or Big Ten. Even in 2024, when Notre Dame went to the playoffs, its ACC schedule didn’t offer much. Louisville was the toughest of the mix, finishing 9-4. The rest? Georgia Tech (7-6), Florida State (2-10), Virginia (5-7), Stanford (3-9). Woof.
While these games hurt Notre Dame’s resume, they also rarely produce an exciting matchup for Notre Dame’s spread-out fanbase to make the trip to South Bend. Who is emptying their wallet to travel from halfway across the country to see SMU next year?
Meanwhile, the SEC and Big Ten now operate on another level
Just look at the landscape of college football since Notre Dame entered its agreement with the ACC. The SEC added Texas and Oklahoma. The Big Ten added USC, Oregon, Washington, and UCLA.
These mega-conferences generate multiple top-15 matchups per season, deeper competitive schedules, and more natural opportunities to build a resume for their institutions.
Notre Dame, meanwhile, is tied to the ACC — a league that responded to the arms race in college football by adding SMU, Cal, and Stanford. That’s not helping the Irish keep pace with the sport. It’s pulling them backward.
The ACC gets more out of the deal today than Notre Dame
Despite its struggles, the ACC continues to rely heavily on Notre Dame to enhance its members’ schedules. Notre Dame AD Pete Bevacqua pointed out Tuesday that since Notre Dame joined this agreement, ACC teams sell out roughly 23% of their games that don’t include Notre Dame, but that number jumps to 90% when the Irish visit an ACC campus.
While the ACC is getting increased draws at members’ games, Notre Dame has been getting weak opponents, low-value November results, and constant digs at its strength of schedule when so much of it is being dictated by a league that is struggling to maintain any semblance of relevance now that Clemson has fallen off its mega-power perch.
This isn’t balanced. It’s a lopsided arrangement that benefits the ACC and burdens Notre Dame.
The Path Forward: Stop making the ACC Notre Dame’s problem
Rather than asking how the Irish can make the ACC work, the real question might be:
Should Notre Dame be looking for the same or a similar scheduling model with a conference that actually elevates its resume?
The structure itself – a semi-affiliated partnership without conference membership – wasn’t a bad idea. The problem is that Notre Dame applied that model to a conference that has not maintained competitive relevance in the current landscape of college football.
The solution is obvious, at least for football. Notre Dame should copy the ACC blueprint and pitch it to other conferences that are more relevant. That could be a tough sell, as the conference overlords are almost certainly going to use Notre Dame’s exclusion this year to strong-arm the Irish into abandoning football independence, but it doesn’t seem there is any risk of that at this point.
The ACC isn’t improving – Notre Dame shouldn’t wait
Nothing about the ACC’s trajectory suggests a comeback is coming. Stanford, Cal, and SMU don’t move the football needle. The depth isn’t returning. The competitiveness isn’t rebounding. Clemson and Florida State could rebound quickly, but both institutions have been looking for their own ways out of the conference.
Notre Dame can keep waiting for the ACC to get its act together — or it can get more proactive in looking for alternatives. The challenge they face in doing this now, versus when they made the agreement with the ACC, is that other conferences that would be beneficial to Notre Dame now have MUCH more leverage than they did a decade ago. While ideal for Notre Dame, it’s hard to imagine the Big 10 or SEC offering Notre Dame a similar deal without some significant concessions from Notre Dame, if not outright full membership in football.
Notre Dame’s ceiling shouldn’t be defined by the ACC
Notre Dame’s independence isn’t a problem. Its scheduling philosophy, though, and a large part of that is how much it’s hindered by the ACC. The Irish need multiple premium matchups every season – not one Miami surrounded by four resume dead-weight games. The ACC simply can’t provide that right now, and it’s safe to wonder if they ever will, with Clemson and Florida State probably not long for the conference. Future Notre Dame opponents like Alabama, Texas, Auburn, and Florida should make for more challenging schedules, but the trajectory of the ACC doesn’t seem like it will do that anytime soon.
Just a bad situation all around. The ACC agreement is hurting the Irish SOS. Of course the haters are griping ND plays a patsy schedule. And I really can’t argue that point right now. Those 5 ACC teams really hurt. We can’t even look to USC to really help us out a whole lot the last few years.
Best case scenario is ND makes another similar arrangement with the Big 10 or SEC. But that seems unlikely. Don’t get me wrong, if the Big 10 or SEC thought it would make them a hefty profit they would absolutely do it. No matter how much the haters would shriek about it, money talks. And if they knew it would be a money maker they would have no problem making such an agreement with ND. But they hold more card than ND right now.
ND really can’t go back to the way things were before the ACC agreement either. The landscape has changed far too much. And like it or not, all our other sports DO need a home. The AD is responsible for all the sports teams, not just football (event though football and to a lesser extent basketball are important and probably have some priority, that doesn’t mean you can just ignore all the other sports).
I never thought I’d see the day but the only other option I can see is ND joining a conference. Big 10 would obviously make the most sense and with USC/UCLA being in the Big 10 many of our traditional rivals are there now. They would obviously find a way to keep Navy on the schedule because of the gentleman’s agreement they have dating back to WWII. But as there are always out of conference games I don’t see that being an issue. And they might be able to keep Stanford on as well.
There are other considerations as well, obviously with other contracts, but I imagine the lawyers would figure that out. I don’t think that would be a major stumbling block.
Not my preferred solution. I love our independence. I hope they find a way to maintain that. But it’s becoming more and more of a struggle and unfortunately the ACC agreement may indirectly force our hands.
Crazy thought. Since ND alrady plays 5-6 ACC games per season why not dive in full time as an ACC member? Go to 8 league games with what should be a relatively easy path to an automatic bid. This is with the caveat that ND keeps all revenue from the NBC deal and pays the visiting ACC schools the regular fee for the visiting team. The ACC gets more credibility as a football league and gets the added value of 4 guaranteed ND games on TV each season which should add some value to the ACC television package. Again, this is perhaps a counterintuitive suggestion but given the ACC’s declining relevance in football it might be a win-win for both ND and the ACC. .
Maybe look at moving non football sports to the Big East and approach the Big 12 for a similar agreement they have now with the ACC, but include a financial compensation to the conference as a concession. I think the Big 12 is currently better than the ACC and covers a much larger geography now. I don’t think neither the Big 10 nor SEC would take ND without full football. If ND decides it requires conference football, than Big 10 makes the most sense for full sport participation versus SEC.
Also dead weight: Navy. It’s long past time to let this one go.
Also Purdue. Why?
With all of the conferences realigning over the past several years, ND has never been less relevant. Anything other than ND football would be completely irrelevant without the ACC. Which is why they joined the conference. Frankly, the ACC should just give them the boot and be done with them after their ridiculous tantrum. Why wouldn’t the ACC support thier team over an outsider. And that’s what ND football is to the ACC. Just another outsider.
“Ridiculous tantrum”? If you walked away from a game of blackjack once you found out the house was cheating, would that be a “ridiculous tantrum”? Try saying a 3-loss Alabama team the lost their opener to a pathetic FSU team and rushed for negative yards in their closer deserves to be in the CFP. Say it with a straight face. Consider how the CFP chair who made the final decision is AD at an SEC school that ND shellacked so bad he had to fire his head coach in the middle of the season.
People like you have always hated Notre Dame and will be flagrantly dishonest with themselves just to attack again. You’ll hate them if they joined the ACC full bore, the Big 10, or the almighty SEC. You would call them “irrelevant” even if the team went as far as the NC game in recent memory and beat the top teams of all the conferences I just mentioned to get there. Oh wait, that just happened last year…
Learn to read, AFTER you jettison the ND hatred (even if only momentarily in order to attempt learning). You’ ll be better off for it.
I think the ACC needs ND more than ND needs the ACC right now. The ACC is barely a shadow of what it once was. They’re barely holding their own conference together and it’s only the large buyouts that are keeping it together right now. The stats show many ACC teams only make money when ND is playing them.
ND wants to stay independent. But they still hold plenty of sway if they wanted to join a conference. Any conference, Big 12, ACC, Big 10….would take the Irish in a heartbeat. They would sign a deal tomorrow.
Unless it is in the school’s interest to say “yes”, why? Schools already in the SEC and Big Ten will say no. Maybe lower conferences like the Mountain West or MAC or Conference USA?
Leave the ACC then. ND provides next to nothing for the conference. It’s Olympic sports aren’t exactly premier and football shares no revenue. So leave already. Good luck finding another conference to fill your football schedule out.
Two-time Mens Lacrosse NC (2023 and 2024), current two-time WBB ACC Champion; men and women soccer highly ranked this year (women were #1), MBB on the rise. multi-year fencing NC, ND in 2022 Baseball Final Four; as per the article ACC CFB venues sell out 23% of the time, EXCEPT when playing ND when it rises to 90%. Yep, clearly no value. “Ignorance is bliss.” Enjoy your ecstasy.
ACC is a dying conference. There is a reason Clemson and FSU want out. The only thing holding them back is the exit fee.
There is a reason Clemson and FSU want out also. The only thing stopping them is the exit fee. Stop looking at the ACC with rose colored glasses – they are a dying conference.
The ACC does two things for ND. First, it provides football opponents. But second, it provides a home conference for 23 other ND sports: MW basketball, MW lacrosse, baseball, softball, track, etc. The ACC may not be doing great at the first thing, but it’s pretty good for the second thing. The only thing missing is the hockey team; the ACC doesn’t sponsor hockey, but that’s OK, the B10 needs hockey teams and has taken ND.
If ND breaks the football deal, will the ACC keep hosting the other teams? Maybe not; they don’t add much value without football. Can ND just take them somewhere else? Again, maybe not, for the same reason. The B10 or SEC or B12 might say: “it’s everything — including football — or nothing”.
Best alternative option might be the Big East. They are a basketball conference and don’t sponsor football, so they would have no issue with football remaining independent. Then ND could maybe cut a separate scheduling deal for football with the B10 or SEC.
Interesting points. But all Notre Dame had to do was beat one of the two strong opponents they played and they would have been in the playoff unquestioned. So perhaps the overall ACC strength isn’t the issue. Perhaps it is that Notre Dame failed it’s two tests!
Schedule directly with schools we want to play. For goodness sake stop scheduling games with conference teams where they have refs affiliated with the opponent’s conference.
So what’s the solution? Only solution that I see is to join the Big Ten. Notre Dame’s independence is becoming more and more irrelevant every year. They have to join a conference now more than ever. And being independent in football is only about the money anymore. For years, independence has been important for other reasons. Not anymore. Now it’s just about the money. So I say join the Big Ten and let’s go win the Natty next year.
Fortunately, you are not making those decision.
I could not agree more and felt this was a risk when they did a deal with a Bball , Lacrosse , Soccer and strong women’s sports conference, but I have no answer as good football conf only wanna play ND , they will likely lose , if they become a conf team and I don’t like them to be muscled into that. The BIG TEN and SEC run Collrgeville football right now and AND was left out to drive them into the arms of one or the other .
ND should schedule non-ACC games with ACC opponents that are CFP worthy. ND recently signed a deal with Clemson to play about five ACC non-conference games. ND should look to do the same with Miami and Florida State. For example, ND in a future season opens against Clemson, plays Florida State in October and then plays Miami on the Saturday night after Thanksgiving. And ND plays another four games against cream puffs like BC, Wake, Duke and Syracuse. Louisville, Stanford, SMU, Cal, Pitt, NC State, GTech and NC get sprinkled through the years for the other four games. That still leaves ND with five other games against non-ACC schools and preserves the USC and Navy games. Of the three wild card games ND can schedule teams like Oregon, Texas, Bama, etc. , one each plus mid level teams from other conferences such as Baylor (Big12) or Wisconsin *B1G). That schedule will produce 10-2 records that are top ten in the CFP rankings.