What makes Notre Dame special? Maybe it’s their physicality on the field this year. Or maybe it’s their speed on the field this year. But what about the off-the-gridiron factors? The Fighting Irish remains a peculiar case in the American football landscape, where conferences are always realigning and shuffling. But they enjoy freedom—to play 7 independent games and 5 games against ACC opponents. While Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman and everyone in the North believe that this oddity contributes to their success, James Franklin has a contrasting view.

The Fighting Irish are set to take on Penn State in the Orange Bowl. Only one game separates the two teams from walking into the championship game, and it seems skirmish has already started. Both head coaches appeared before the media ahead of their high-voltage encounter. When talking about the Lions and their organizational structure, Franklin had an amusing take—everyone should be in a conference. Why so?

Franklin said, “I think everybody should be in a conference. I think everybody should play a conference championship game, or no one should play a conference championship game. I think everybody should play the same number of conference games, I think things need to be consistent across college football.

Why is the 52-year-old coach saying that? Because Notre Dame plays 12 games in a regular season. But they don’t play a championship game. They also don’t get to play a game in the 13th week, which works as a bye for them. The team that the Fighting Irish beat in the last game? Georgia plays 8 games in a regular season. And Penn State? They play 9. Franklin called for a look at the calendar, and maybe starting a week earlier could offload some end-of-season burden for him.

But how does it all affect Notre Dame? Remember how they beat the Bulldogs? The payout they received was $14 million. For themselves. Whereas, the other 3 semifinalists got $14 million each for their conferences, which would be distributed equally. You could see the difference in the rewards, and it goes beyond that.

Marcus Freeman: negating James Franklin’s scathing opinion

What sparked Franklin’s heated statement? Freeman’s comments were from the same media interaction earlier. When asked about the pros and cons of being an independent team, the 38-year-old coach pointed out how the team only saw the situation positively. He declared, “We get to play coast to coast, play multiple-different teams from multiple-different conferences. You start out the season in College Station and the end of the season in LA. And we’re in New York twice.”

In addition, Freeman stated how they saw their program globally despite being a national one. He continued, “In terms of how we play. The audience we play in front of. Now it’s not much different than the Big 10 now with, you know, UCLA and USC and some of the West Coast teams being in it.” What’s more? He explained how being independent also helps with their recruitment and players. How? They sell it with a positive flavor.

Now the question looms large: whether their independence will be curtailed or the number of games will be cut down. We highly doubt that. There is a reason they took this particular route, and it will remain the same. However, it might give others a chance to throw a jibe or two. Just like James Franklin did.

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