There are many posts below about "forcing Notre Dame to join the conference".

1. We have a contract with Notre Dame until 2036 (if I have that right). This means they won't be forced to join the ACC, AND they are prevented from joining another conference. That's the deal. They won't be "forced" into anything. If the ACC dies, they are free to go wherever. And trust me, they have options. If you want ND to join, you need to make them a deal they can't refuse. Sweeten the pot. And communicate your ideas. But the desperate cries of "force ND to join or we are going to die" is unbecoming. And the ACC needs to write off ND as our white knight. Maybe they will join some day. But in the interim, the ACC has a lot of mediocre football schools. And adding ND isn't going to change that.

2. We should learn from Notre Dame. They protect their brand and their image. They don't tie it to fickle conference policies. Look at A&M. They have a lot of cool stuff about their school and football program; but now their schtick is "we are the only SEC team in Texas" (so lame). And now that same SEC has been found to be negotiating behind their back with their enemy Texas. I'm not saying all schools should go independent. But we should concern ourselves more with improving our profile beyond conference image.
[Post edited by Maroon Baboon at 07/23/2021 4:01PM]