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Message: [QUOTE="sufan, post: 338305, member: 262"] Interesting article and there are a number of ways to look at this. [COLOR=#ff0000]"What we have to do, it's no secret, is not be in this [current] position," Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick told CBSSports.com recently. "It's not manageable."[/COLOR] 1) ND may be in a difficult post-season situation: a) If ND stays with an expanded Big East with 14 football teams, they may not be able to gain access to desirable second tier bowls unless the Big East improves its bowls. b) They could perhaps face new pressures from the new football schools to play a minimum number of Big East football games in exchange for access. Who does ND want to play routinely in the new Big East, aside from Navy? More importantly, would the new Big East require ND to rotate among schools? 2) The best OB situation would be an ACC opponent that had the highest ranking outside the playoff bowls, excluding teams in the Rose and Champ bowls. That could easily result in a top 10 ranked opponent, depending on who gets into the playoffs and the rankings of the Rose and Champ bowl teams. Although some of the other conferences might like to get a 50% revenue split from the OB, there is competition from the Big 10, 12, PAC, ND and a wild card top ranked team to also participate. As long as the other major conferences are gaining 50% revenue from "their" exclusive bowls, it seems unlikely that would be a requirement and as long as the OB payout beats the one other major non-playoff bowl, the OB would likely end up with not only a highly ranked non-ACC team but as mentioned above, the ACC should certainly receive a payout equal to the other 4 major conferences for its bowl as well as the payout when the OB is one of the playoff bowls. 3) What I get from this article is: that Swofford considers ND's postseason bowl access to be a source of concern; that making a deal via the new Big East for second tier bowl access may not be a great option; that the ACC really doesn't need to make a special deal with ND for a successful OB; if ND wants long term access to ACC second tier bowl games, they have a decision to make as to how many regular season ACC teams they are willing to play and are they willing to rotate among all ACC teams, for starters. 4) I would be very surprised if ND and the ACC work out a special relationship, but this article is a good explanation of some of ND concerns. [COLOR=#ff0000]"If the Orange Bowl hook-up isn't finalized, N.D. could be in a dire situation. Starting in 2014, in any given year there may be only three at-large spots available out of 12[/COLOR]. If only three spots are open, a qualified Notre Dame most likely would get one of them. But the Orange Bowl agreement would make it a certainty and make it more lucrative." [/QUOTE]

Verification: What is a Syracuse fan's favorite color?