Why “Just Join a Conference” Is the Laziest Notre Dame Take There Is

Cue the tired hot takes saying “just join a conference” after Notre Dame missed the College Football Playoff Invitational.

Easy.

Lazy.

Wrong.

Let’s get something straight. Notre Dame is independent by design. By defiance. By history. And by strategy that most analysts refuse to understand. This is not stubbornness. This is power.

There are only two true independents in major college football. UConn, trapped by circumstance. Notre Dame, standing tall by choice. Leaving tens of millions on the table every year to control its own destiny. That is the real cost of independence.

Born an Outsider

Notre Dame didn’t choose independence. It was forced. In 1909, they beat Michigan, a powerhouse. Michigan’s coach Fielding Yost went ballistic. Games canceled. Conferences blocked.

Notre Dame was shut out… permanently.

Rockne built a national force in the 1920s while whispers of anti-Catholic bias swirled. Notre Dame was fighting for legitimacy, not just wins.

Exile Made Them National

Blocked at home, Notre Dame hit the road. Army in New York. USC in Los Angeles. They brought football to cities with Irish immigrants hungry for pride. Fans across the country treated Notre Dame as heritage. Television didn’t isolate them. It broadcast them.

When the Big Ten Wanted In

By the 1990s, the Big Ten wanted Notre Dame. Invitations, pressure, all of it. But Notre Dame had a secret weapon: its own national TV deal with NBC. Joining a conference meant sharing revenue, surrendering control, losing leverage. They said no.

Independence was now leverage.

Modern Adaptation

Today, Notre Dame plays nearly all other sports in the ACC. Men’s hockey in the Big Ten. Football independent. The ACC Grant of Rights protects them through 2036. Any move to the Big Ten triggers a nine-figure exit fee.

Independence is now legal armor.

The Money They Leave on the Table

Notre Dame could make $100 million per year in the Big Ten. Instead, they make $67 million. They leave at least $25 million on the table every year. Not stubbornness. Calculation. Control of scheduling. Branding. Postseason destiny.

Independence still pays. Not in cash… in power.

Playoffs Don’t Require a Conference

For decades, critics claimed independence would block a championship. The expanded playoffs killed that argument. Notre Dame can now qualify on merit. No conference, no problem.

Why Notre Dame Still Walks Alone

Independence wasn’t chosen. It was earned. Rejection became identity. Identity became leverage. Leverage became freedom. Notre Dame absorbs opportunity cost rather than surrender autonomy.

The Big Ten no longer blocks Notre Dame. Notre Dame blocks itself from surrendering.

That is not irony.

That is sovereignty.

If you made it this far, in the words of Reading Rainbow’s LeVar Burton, “You don’t have to take my word for it” … check out this video below: