The latest news in conference realignment was announced this morning in a release from the ACC. Notre Dame will likely join in 2015 unless an earlier exit can be negotiated with the Big East.
“We are committed to keeping the Atlantic Coast Conference a vibrant and competitive league dedicated to ensuring the appropriate balance of academics, athletics and integrity,” said the ACC Council of Presidents in a joint statement. “The addition of Notre Dame further strengthens the rich tradition and culture of the ACC as well as allowing for future academic collaboration and we enthusiastically welcome them into the league.”
“We have monitored the changing conference landscape for many months and have concluded that moving to the ACC is the best course of action for us,” Swarbrick said. “This will enable us to maintain our historic independence in football, join in the ACC’s non-BCS bowl package, and provide a new and extremely competitive home for our other sports.
“We are immensely grateful to the members of the Big East, which has been a wonderful home for us the past 17 years. We also think that the conference has a strong future under the leadership of its new commissioner, Mike Aresco.”
As previously mentioned, Notre Dame has agreed to play five ACC opponents annually in football, which means they will play each conference member at least once every three years.
The only ACC school that Notre Dame has never played is Virginia Tech. They have played the most contests against future ACC member Pittsburgh (67).
Here is Notre Dame’s record against the 11 other ACC schools, plus Pittsburgh and Syracuse that join in 2013:
- Boston College: 12-9
- Clemson: 1-1
- Duke: 3-1
- Florida State: 2-5
- Georgia Tech: 27-6-1
- Maryland: 2-0
- Miami (FL): 16-7-1
- NC State: 0-1
- North Carolina: 16-2
- Pittsburgh: 46-20-1
- Syracuse: 3-3
- Virginia: 1-0
- Virginia Tech: 0-0
- Wake Forest: 1-0
The Fighting Irish have played the most games against Pittsburgh (46-20-1), followed by Georgia Tech (27-61-1).
In addition to extending an invitation to Notre Dame, the ACC Council of Presidents voted to increase the conference exit fees to more than $50 million.
The only ND sport that will not move to the ACC is hockey. After their final season in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (2012-13), Notre Dame will move to Hockey East.