Dan Mullen believes Notre Dame joining a conference would have prevented massive realignment

Just four independents remain in college football, with one being above the rest. Notre Dame seems to be in no rush to join a conference, continuing the program’s long tradition. It’s something they are proud of in South Bend, even throughout the latest rounds of conference realignment.

To Notre Dame, there is no upside to joining a conference. There is a deal with the ACC, agreeing to play a certain amount of their members in football on a yearly basis. Pac-12 opponents (for now) Stanford and USC are on the schedule on a yearly basis. But Notre Dame is far from full-time status with either conference.

For ESPN’s Dan Mullen, if Notre Dame had recently decided to join, we may not have seen a lot of the recent realignment moves. Commissioners would have had to force the Fighting Irish’s hand, using the College Football Playoff to threaten them. Mullen suggests it could have saved the Pac-12.

“I wish college football would put the pressure — and it comes with one statement,” Mullen began. “You have to be in a conference to make the playoffs. At that statement, Notre Dame has a choice. They could go to the ACC, they could have gone to the Pac-12. They play a bunch of those teams. The Pac-12 would have taken them with open arms.”

Notre Dame has made the CFP as an Independent on two occasions. Both have resulted in losses, coming to Clemson in 2018 and then Alabama in 2020. Though, the latter of those two did come while the Fighting Irish were members of the ACC due to the COVID-19 season.

So, there is a little experience with success while in a conference.

However, Mullen’s example does not have Notre Dame joining the ACC. He assumed the school’s national brand and TV value could have saved the conference. Had the College Football Playoff ever forced Notre Dame to make a decision, we may have not seen the Pac-12 torn to shreds.

“All of a sudden, they are saving a conference instead of being able to say ‘we’re kind of doing our own thing because we get every access whether or not we join your conference or not.’ The second they say you have to be in a conference to make the playoff, you force Notre Dame’s hand,” Mullen said. “That would have kept a lot of these conferences in college football alive.”