ND wants the ACC to survive for two reasons:
1) To help keep football independent, and
2) To house 24 of ND's other 25 sports programs.
ND doesn't want the ACC to end, it just doesn't want to join for football.
Its position on the playoffs has nothing to do with the SEC or the ACC or any other football conference.
It has to do solely and exclusively with trying to maintain football independence.
The position of ND donors and most alumni and most fans is the same with the ACC now as it was with the Big East from 1995-2012.
Its the same position they held about the Big Ten invitation in 1999.
No thanks if football is required to join. They all want football to remain independent.
Big donors and the alumni made sure the Big Ten full membership invitation was rejected by the ND Board of Trustees in 1999.
The threat has always been made for decades that the donation pipeline would be shut off if ND surrendered football independence.
(Donation money massively dwarfs TV money at ND)
This is nothing new.
Other than that, ND wants the ACC to survive. It wanted the Big East to survive, too, but not at the cost of football joining.
(The main benefit of Big East and ACC membership was/is it kept football out of a conference. To have to join to "save" the conference negates the main benefit of being a member)
Nothing has changed since 1995.
The Occam's Razor answer is an easy one.
ND's position on the playoffs is simply caused by wanting to keep football independent.
(Not allied to the SEC, not doing ESPN's bidding, not wanting the ACC to dissolve)
Full stop.
[Post edited by TerryD at 01/23/2022 08:29AM]
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In response to this post by Stech)
Posted: 01/23/2022 at 08:29AM