Colorado to the Pac-10. Boise State to the Mountain West. Nebraska to the Big Ten. Five Big 12 teams possibly joining Colorado on the West Coast in a matter of days.
Is that seismic enough to get Notre Dame to budge off their long-held and treasured football independence?
Nope. Not yet.
Speaking to Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune, Irish athletic director Jack Swarbrick maintained that, even with all of the upheaval the collegiate landscape has undergone the past three days, it’s still not enough for the institution to shed independence and embrace conference affiliation.
“There’s been nothing at all that’s happened that directly impacts us or our evaluation of what’s going on,” Swarbrick told the Tribune.
“We continue to be focused on trying to do what we can to maintain our football independence and ensure the long-term viability of the Big East. Those two things aren’t impacted by the events of this week.”
While saying there have been no substantive discussions between Notre Dame and the Big Ten -- No “substantive” talks? So you’re saying there have been talks of varying degrees of substance, just none that you would label “substantive”? So you’re saying there’s a chance? -- Swarbrick seems to think that any discussion regarding expansion will cool and slow down in the near future.
“It very well may happen,” Swarbrick said of the seismic shift he spoke of earlier this offseason. “But my best guess is, there may be a little bit of a break here as people analyze the situation and reflect on their own interest. We may have a bit of a pause before there’s more activity.”
But, what if the Pac-10 moves to 16 schools, and the Big Ten responds in kind? And then the SEC feels the need to answer the expansion salvo? If that were to happen, we have the feeling that Swarbrick would be singing a different conference tune.
Or risk getting further shuffled out of national prominence and relevance by the very independence they so dearly cling to.