Notre Dame Voted Into ACC

Sep 8, 2012; South Bend, IN, USA; The Notre Dame Fighting Irish take the field before the game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Notre Dame Stadium. Notre Dame won 20-17. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-US PRESSWIRE

Today the ACC Council of Presidents unanimously voted Notre Dame as the newest member of the ACC.

Now, before you get too excited, the Irish will compete as full members in all conference sports in the ACC except for football – they will, however, play five games annually against league opponents.  Notre Dame will remain a nonconference team – for example, when they are scheduled to play Miami they will not count as a conference opponent.

Notre Dame football will continue to remain independent in order to retain its television contract.

Coach Golden approves of the move and would like to see Notre Dame become a full-time member in football.  “It’s a great day for the ACC.  Just really excited about what our leadership is doing – our Presidents, our ADs and the conference office, really fortifying out league and making it stronger.”

In a statement released by UM Athletic Director Shawn Eichorst: “The University of Miami is thrilled with the addition of Notre Dame to the Atlantic Coast Conference.  Notre Dame is internationally recognized for its academics  and athletics and its core beliefs and mission are in line with ACC member institutions.  The news today further solidifies the ACC as one of the nation’s premier conferences and Miami looks forward to welcoming the Irish to the league.”

This is a huge deal for the ACC.  With the recent addition of Pitt and Syracuse, the ACC will have a total of 15 teams representing the conference.  As of now, the ACC is unlikely to add a 16th team.

So is a superconference in the works?  Could be, but there is no doubting that Notre Dame is capable of drawing in fans, ratings and money, especially on days when they travel to Sun Life Stadium.

It would be nice to see a revival of the old Miami-Notre Dame rivalries, the ones dating back to the late 80′s and early 90′s.  These two teams thought very little of each other as was seen in the infamous Catholics vs. Convicts game in 1988.  There is certainly a deep history between the two.

I, for one, say welcome Irish!