You’ve never getting them in a conference now.
No matter what happens with Notre Dame’s magical College Football Playoff run, no matter where the improbable ride ends, this Irish team will go down as the one that secured the university’s beloved independent model.
If Notre Dame’s thrilling, last-second 27-24 victory Thursday over Penn State in the CFP Orange Bowl semifinal wasn’t enough, consider the reward for advancing to the national championship game: $20 million.
Notre Dame, everyone, is playing with house money with one game remaining in the CFP.
“We have the pieces in place now,” Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua told USA TODAY Sports late Thursday night outside a wild Irish locker room. “We have a long-term (media rights) deal with NBC, and it’s no secret that the playoff expansion to 12 teams helps us. We feel good about where we are moving forward.”
Just how good? It doesn’t matter who the Irish play from the Cotton Bowl semifinal – Ohio State or Texas – or if it ends in another national title for the storied program, it has no impact on the most important takeaway from this postseason run.
Notre Dame proved it could do what was, at best, a dream scenario of having its NBC cake and eating College Football Playoff pie, too. The shifting landscape of college football seemingly had Notre Dame in a no-win situation: stay independent and trail the Big Ten and SEC in revenue generation, or believe in the concept of finding the right coach and plan and reach every possible goal on the field.
