ACC Commissioner John Swofford appears to have given Notre Dame an ultimatum: Either join as a full member or look elsewhere. At least that seems to be what he meant when he said this:
The popular theory has been that the ACC has been holding two spots open in order to get to 16 teams. Notre Dame and UConn seem to be the most obvious choices. Notre Dame, which currently is in the Big East for all sports other than football, doesn't want to move their entire sports department over, the ACC seems poised to move in another direction. Among the most obvious candidates is Rutgers.
Notre Dame has long enjoyed the fruits of remaining independent for football, and is understandably reluctant to give that up. Even if success has not been as plentiful as they would want, they do not have to share any of their significant revenues with other teams. In a 16-team ACC, there would be 15 other mouths to feed.
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