Major conferences going to conference-only schedules leaves independent schools such as Notre Dame in a rough spot.
Notre Dame’s football program has maintained independence even though the school’s other sports joined the ACC in 2012. So what would Notre Dame do if conferences cancel non-conference games? The ACC says that it will help out the Fighting Irish.
ACC football also expected to play conference-only games, sources told @Stadium. Last month, ACC commish John Swofford told @Stadium if Power 5 schools played conference-only schedules that ACC would assist Notre Dame with as many games as it needed
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 9, 2020
Notre Dame has six games scheduled in 2020 against ACC teams (Wake Forest, Pitt, Duke, Clemson, Georgia Tech and Louisville). They also have two games against Pac-12 schools that have been canceled (Stanford and USC), a game against a Big Ten school that was canceled (Wisconsin), a game against an SEC school (Arkansas), a game against a MAC school (Western Michigan), and a game against an AAC school (Navy). Their 12-game schedule is already down to nine games and could see more dropouts, especially if the SEC limits itself to conference-only games.
If Notre Dame ends up with just eight games on its schedule, they would want to add more games. The ACC might try to get them games with schools like Syracuse or Virginia, depending on which schools have availability that align with Notre Dame. BYU, another independent, could also be an option for the Fighting Irish. The Cougars have lost five games off their schedule due to the Big Ten and Pac-12 dropping non-conference games.
