(07-19-2017 01:19 PM)JRsec Wrote:  Stop right there. I don't know how many times it has been posted, or will need to be posted again, but the service academies will not be joining any P5 conference. And I'll be interested to see if Navy would remain in the AAC should they ever get promoted to P status.

The academies have now even done away with waivers of military service for athletes drafted into the professional ranks. The have reasserted their mission to train "career" military officers. They don't like the health risks that P schedules produce where their linemen give away 80lbs per man on average across both the offensive and defensive lines. Their height and weight restrictions put them at a major disadvantage. While they still like to play a brand name or two a season, what they don't want is a schedule which week in and week out puts them at this risk for injury. So they have opted to stay out of the P5 and unless they reverse their views on this matter they won't be joining a P conference period. Air Force twice declined to discuss the Big 12, Army remains independent, and Navy will likely keep N.D. on the schedule but will not be joining the ACC to make sure it happens.

OK, good to know. I was skeptical myself, but someone floated the idea in another thread recently and it seemed like a good way to get ND to join as full. But I can see why it wouldn't fly.

(07-19-2017 01:20 PM)ArQ Wrote:  The above schedule will prevent ND from getting future championship.

This is what ND wants for the schedule:

1 vs. USC or Stanford
1 vs rotation of Michigan, MSU, Purdue and high profile schools.
1 vs. fruit cake like Rutgers or Army
1 vs. FCS or low G5 school that guaranteed a win

Bear in mind that if they were in the ACC, they'd be (more) regularly playing several schools that are considered pushovers in football (e.g., BC, Syracuse, Duke, WF, etc.). So they'd have "fruit cake" games already built into their schedule. Interestingly enough, Notre Dame has not played a I-AA/FCS school since at least as far back as 1998, possibly farther.

I suppose they could drop their annual game against Stanford in favor of a lower-end FBS school. The primary reason ND manufactured that rivalry was to ensure they'd play in California every season. So:

9 conference games (protected rivals = BC, Pitt, Miami?) -- a protected game vs. Miami would help substitute Florida exposure/recruiting for reduced California exposure/recruiting
1 vs. USC
1 vs. Navy (this becomes a "fruit cake" game whenever Navy isn't doing well)
1 vs. Michigan, MSU, Purdue, Stanford, or other high-profile school
1 vs. lower-end FBS school