Is Notre Dame’s cherished independence now its greatest liability? After missing out on the playoffs, questions started looming over if this special status is actually helping them or becoming their worst enemy. Even Freeman knows the limits, but for now, Notre Dame isn’t backing down from its stance.

“I have a lot of confidence in our administration and Pete Bevacqua, our AD, that he’ll always keep us in a position to be successful, so as long as we can keep that independence, we will,” Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said on The Joel Klatt Show. “But if there ever comes a time that we are at a disadvantage because we’re not in a conference, I’m sure he’ll make the decision along with our president.”

Well, Marcus Freeman’s desire to stay independent makes sense, as Notre Dame enjoys a lot of benefits with their status. They have complete right over their schedule. They even have an exclusive deal with NBC, which allows them to enjoy the entire revenue of their games without sharing it with a conference. Even with a new playoff revenue distribution model, if they qualify for the CFP, the money goes straight to them, with no sharing with the conference.

But Freeman also underscores the fact that if things go south, Notre Dame’s administration will act fast and get into a conference. He further states the disadvantages of not being part of a conference.

“Well, I think if you talk about being at a disadvantage to make the postseason,” Freeman said. “Yeah. Right. Because you’re not in the playoffs, or if it comes a time where teams won’t schedule you, right?”

Something of this sort already happened with Notre Dame this season. The committee pushed Miami into the playoffs using a tie-breaker situation after their Week 1 win against Notre Dame. The ACC’s perplexing decisions further damaged Notre Dame’s chances. The conference’s tie-breaker not only elevated Miami but also resulted in Duke receiving a bid, whose subsequent win eliminated the Irish entirely.

But knowing ACC ties with Notre Dame, their move didn’t sit well with athletic director Pete Bevacqua. Notre Dame competes in the ACC’s 24 other sports apart from football and men’s hockey, and even Marcus Freeman’s team faces five of the ACC football teams every season. Bevacqua even expressed his dissatisfaction with the move.

“We were mystified by the actions of the conference to attack their biggest business partner in football and a member of their conference in 24 of our other sports,” Pete Bevacqua said on The Dan Patrick Show. “I wouldn’t be honest with you if I didn’t say that they have certainly done permanent damage to the relationship between the conference and Notre Dame.”

So, the one pretty clear thing is that even if Notre Dame decides to enter a conference, the ACC might not be one of them. With the Irish, even Paul Finebaum isn’t happy with the committee’s decision.

Paul Finebaum backs Marcus Freeman’s team

The Notre Dame-Miami ranking flip didn’t just make the Irish furious but also didn’t sit well with Paul Finebaum. As he blasted the entire College Football Playoff committee, stating how Notre Dame stayed ahead of them the entire season until the final move.

“They got it right, but this committee has really been, easily, the worst committee we’ve ever had, and for the reason that they were inconsistent, and they led schools like Notre Dame to believe that they were going to get in there,” Finebaum said. “And the Committee Chairman Hunter Yurachek will easily go down as the biggest tool they’ve ever had, because he never really made any sense.

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Now after constant backlash, committee chairman Hunter Yurachek tried explaining the entire idea behind their switch. After BYU’s disappointing loss against Texas Tech, they moved down in the rankings, which gave the committee a direct chance to compare Miami and Notre Dame; that’s when they decided to move the Hurricanes up with a tiebreaker.

He even mentioned how they rewatched the entire Notre Dame and Miami game to make sure they were making a fair decision. But even Alabama’s rankings hurt Notre Dame’s chances. Despite losing against Georgia, Florida State, and Oklahoma, Kalen DeBoer’s team entered the playoffs. It’s pretty clear that conferences hold better standings.

Now that Notre Dame isn’t planning to join one, let’s hope they put on a strong game next season.