The ACC will not be football "at the highest level", neither will any....
non-employee model.
(ND is just fine with NIL. It is the direct "player as university employee" model that ND objected to and said they would not do.)
ND"s administration would be interested in opting out to a lower level with no players as university employees.
It has never liked the overly large presence ND football has on campus. It has never liked football ever overshadowing academics.
History has shown many times where the Administration throttled football or self-imposed limits on it.
So, I can see Jenkins and Swarbrick saying what they said and meaning it.
However, reality in the form of boosters, alumni and fan revolts will not let that happen.
It is not just the TV money, it also involves perhaps many, many more millions of dollars of donations to the university itself that would dry up if ND punted on football.
In the end, ND will go for a P2 membership to keep football relevant, just like every other school in the country would do if it had ND's options.
"Religion" has nothing at all to do with football re-alignment, by the way. That is a red herring.
The ACC and its schools are not exactly the same as the poor in Mumbai.
There are no religious "good works" involved in bailing out the ACC or its schools so that they can make more millions of dollars instead of less.
The ACC has as much fault in causing the current situation (by tearing up the Big East) as any other entity.
This is all just business. For everyone. Nothing more.
There is no "way out". Not for ND. Not for VT. Not for the ACC.
Conferences have wrecked college football with expansion and chasing more TV dollars.
The writing is on the wall for all of us.
[Post edited by TerryD at 01/25/2022 07:47AM]
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In response to this post by RTFC)
Posted: 01/25/2022 at 07:47AM